


A New Old Tale

by SingingInTheRaiin



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, Emma never meets Neal, Emma still has a kid though, F/M, Gen, Henry was never born, Season 1, and Regina still adopts a kid, but it's no one connected to the Enchanted Forest, there won't be enchanted forest flashbacks since all of that stuff would happen the same
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 44,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23685784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingInTheRaiin/pseuds/SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: Just how different would everything have gone if Geppetto had decided to not be so selfish, therefore allowing Prince Charming to go through the wardrobe with his daughter? This time, Emma grows up knowing what it is to be loved, and what her destiny is. She can't remember a time in her life where she ever didn't believe in magic, and once her 28th birthday rolls around, Emma is ready to go to Storybrooke and break the curse.
Relationships: Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan, Emma Swan & Faith (oc), Prince Charming | David Nolan & Emma Swan, Prince Charming | David Nolan/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard
Comments: 26
Kudos: 70





	1. The Beginning

Geppetto looked at the Blue Fairy, and for a moment, he considered making a deal. If there was going to be a curse that destroyed them all, then of course he would want to protect his son from it however he could. But then he looked down at Pinnocchio, the boy who had been taught to always be brave and kind and unselfish, and he knew that he could not ask such a thing. 

He looked at the Blue Fairy again. “I will build it. And when the savior comes back to save us, I will see my boy again.” He knelt down so that he could pull his son into a tight hug. “Everything will be alright.” He kissed the top of Pinocchio’s head, then stood back up. “We will build it together, me and my boy.” He saw out of the corner of his eye as Jiminy nodded approvingly, and it sent warmth through his body to know that he was doing the right thing. He just had to have faith that the prince and princess would come back someday with their daughter and save everyone.

,,,

David looked down at the bundle of blankets on his wife’s lap, and didn’t even try to choke back his tears. This was supposed to be one of the happiest days of his life, his first child’s day of birth, but instead everything was crashing down around them, and the curse was speeding on its way. “At least we’re together,” he whispered, because that was the only silver lining he could see to any of this.

Snow shook her head, though, and gently held their baby out for David to hold. “No. You have to take her. Take the baby to the wardrobe, and the two of you can escape the curse together.”

“Are you out of your mind?” He couldn’t imagine leaving Snow, not after how many times they’d had to find each other, and he couldn’t imagine being ready for the task of raising his daughter all alone. He needed Snow, she had to know that, didn’t she?

But Snow insisted. “I can’t protect her, not like this. But you can. You have to save her, please.”

David shook his head, even though he knew that Snow was right. “But she needs her mother.”

Snow gave him a soft little smile, and it broke his heart. “You’ll make sure that she comes back for the rest of us, and then she will have her mother.” She leaned over to gently kiss the baby’s forehead, and then she kissed David’s arm. “Goodbye, Emma. Goodbye my love. We’ll see each other again someday.”

Saying goodbye always hurt so much, so David said nothing, he just ran for the door and grabbed his sword that was waiting there. He’d see Snow again someday. He had to. So David fought his way through the Queen’s guards that had started to fill the hallway, and he made his way to the nursery. There was no time to look around and mourn all of the memories that their family would never be able to make in this room.

David managed to fend off the guards that had been right behind him, and then he clambered into the wardrobe. He had to turn sideways and awkwardly curl up around Emma just to have enough room to close the doors. Could the wardrobe not have been made a little bigger, considering it had been meant to hold him and his pregnant wife?

But there was no time to critique the craftsmanship. He slammed the doors shut just as he saw more guards spilling into the room, and he squeezed his eyes shut and held Emma as tightly as he dared. 

It felt as though David passed through a giant storm, and then he found that he was curled up in a tree of all things. He carefully got out, and his limbs felt sore, as though he’d been curled up like that for hours instead of a minute. He looked around and found that he was standing in a forest, though he instinctively knew that it was not any forest he had ever been in before. He was still cradling Emma in his arms, though she burst into tears as soon as she opened her eyes and looked around.

David carefully bounced her in his arms and made gentle shushing noises until she calmed down, though there was no one there to sooth away his tears. He and Emma were safe, wherever they were now, but Snow and the rest of their family had been caught by the curse, and it would be a long twenty-eight years before David would be able to see any of them again. 

,,,

Emma felt nervous as she got out of her car, and looked at the house. It was the same place she’d lived in her entire life, not counting the many road trips and adventures that she’d been on, but staring up at it today, she knew this might very well be the last time she ever sees the place. It was her twenty-eighth birthday, afterall, and Emma had known for as long as she could remember that this day would mark the start of something new. 

She didn’t have time to just stand around and get sweaty palms, though, because the front door suddenly burst open and a moment later, Emma had her arms full of an energetic child. “Mom! You’re home! Happy birthday!”  
Emma held her daughter closer. “Thanks kid.” Then she carried Faith into the house, and she couldn’t help laughing at the sight of the giant banner that was stretched across the dining room that read ‘Happy Birthday Emma!’ 

She turned to look at her father, who was standing in the doorway between the dining room and the kitchen, a smug look on his face. “Don’t worry, there’s presents too.”

Emma set Faith down, and her daughter immediately shot out of the room, most likely to retrieve whatever present she’d concocted up for this moment. Emma made her way over to David to give him a hug. “I didn’t realize we were having a party. If I had known, I wouldn’t have told everyone that we were heading out immediately.”

David shrugged. “I thought that this party could be more of a family only event.” Then his smile faded and he gave her a more serious look. “Emma, I swear to you that your next birthday party is going to have so much family that you’re going to get sick of them all.”

“Hey, it hasn’t been all bad with just the three of us.” Then she smiled as she heard Faith run back into the room. She turned around to look at her daughter, and a messily wrapped box was shoved into her arms. Emma raised one eyebrow. “What is this?”

Faith rolled her eyes. “You have to open it to find out. That’s the whole point of a present, Mom.”

Emma laughed as she walked over to the table and set the box down next to the cake that looked like David must have spent all day decorating it. She tugged at the ribbon until it came loose, and then carefully tore away the shiny silver wrapping paper. Inside the box was a beautiful leather quiver embossed with images that Emma recognized from the stories she’d grown up hearing all about. She turned to her daughter and pulled the girl into a tight hug. “Oh, thank you so much. This is amazing.”

“I didn’t make it,” Faith pointed out. “And Gramps paid for it. But it was my idea!”

“Well it was a wonderful idea. I love it.” 

Faith looked relieved that her present had been a good one, and then she wiggled out of Emma’s grasp. “So now that you have this one, you don’t really need your old one, right? Which means that I can have it, and then you can teach me how to shoot?”  
She looked up at Emma with pleading eyes that looked far too much like Faith’s father’s, and Emma looked over at David with one eyebrow raised. He just shrugged. “She didn’t tell me that her present came attached with her own plans.” He seemed far too amused by the whole thing. 

Emma sat down, and then reached out to take Faith’s hands, tugging her a little bit closer. “I started learning archery from your gramps when I was about twelve years old. And how old are you again?”

“Mom, you know I’m ten,” Faith grumbled. “You didn’t forget.” Then she remembered that she was trying to ask for something, and the grumbling immediately stopped to make way for her argument. “But that’s different. When you were my age, you still had a bajillion years until you’d actually have to face the evil Queen, but now we’re going to be there tonight. Wouldn’t you feel better knowing that I’ve got at least some way of defending myself?”

“You’re starting to make me think that I should just leave you with your gramps while I go into town.”

David scoffed. “As if you’d be able to ditch her for that long.”

“Because I’d miss her so much?”

That made David snort and shake his head. “No, because she’s as stubborn as you are, and would just follow you into town anyways.”

Alright, that was actually a fair point. Emma let out a sigh of defeat, and then nodded once. “Fine, once we’ve gotten a bit more settled in, I’ll see what the place has in the way of archery lessons.”

Faith crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. “No, I want to learn from you.”

“Why? You realize that I was also taught by normal, non-magical, non-fairy tale people, right?”

Faith sighed. “I know. But I just think that- that maybe if you’re the one who teaches me, it might help me feel a little closer to Snow White.”

Well, Emma could hardly refute that logic. It was the whole reason she’d wanted to learn archery in the first place too. “Alright. There’s a lot of woods in that area, so I’m sure we can find somewhere to practice where there’s no risk of accidentally hurting anyone.” 

Then, even though they knew that they needed to get going soon if they wanted to reach their destination before it got unreasonably late, they spent a little while longer lingering in the place that they’d called home for so long. All of their things were already packed and waiting in both the trunk of Emma’s car and the back of David’s truck, so the inside of the house seemed eerily empty, but they were still able to enjoy their small party as they danced, ate cake and ice cream, and played a few games.

But as it got later, Emma knew that it was time to go. They packed the leftover cake for the road, and took down the birthday banner. Later, once the curse was broken for sure, David would come back and sell the house, but for now it would remain an empty shell, devoid of all the memories and moments that had made it ‘home’. David insisted that they would find a new home, in the people who were all supposed to be part of their family, but this home was the only one that Emma and Faith had ever known, so leaving it behind for good was scary for both of them. 

,,,

Faith fell asleep in the passenger seat by the time Emma rolled to a gentle stop, and she saw in her rearview mirror that David did the same behind her. Normally she’d just let her daughter sleep, since it was pretty late, but she knew Faith would be upset if she didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to her grandfather. Though they’d still be able to call each other as often as they wanted, it could end up being quite a while before they actually saw him again.

So Emma gently nudged Faith’s shoulder until Faith woke up, and then they got out of the car to go over to David. He hopped out of his truck, and pulled both Emma and Faith into a big hug. “I’m going to miss you both so much,” he whispered.

“We’re going to miss you too, Dad.”

“I’ll definitely start missing you more once Mom attempts to make pancakes,” Faith chimed in, causing all three of them to laugh. 

Emma finally pulled away from the hug, because she knew that if she didn’t, David might be tempted to just stand in the road and hold them all night long. “As soon as the curse is broken, we’ll all be together again,” she promised him. “I love you.”

David smiled. “I love you too. And I am so, so proud of you.” Then he reluctantly got back into his truck, and waited for Emma and Faith to get back into Emma’s car. Emma knew that her dad would watch them until they were out of sight, and then he would head back to the nearest motel. It was only about half an hour away- much closer than Boston- but it still felt like an infinite distance growing between them.

Emma took a deep breath, then gripped the steering wheel tighter than necessary as she started the car and drove into the town. She had never been here before, and neither had David, so she had no idea what the layout of the place was. So Emma just drove around for a few minutes until she found a place that said ‘Granny’s Bed and Breakfast’. It seemed like as good a place as any to stay while she and Faith got their footing in this place.

They walked inside just to overhear two people arguing, and Emma pointedly cleared her throat. “Excuse me? I’d like a room.”

The older woman, presumably Granny, turned to look at Emma in surprise. “Really? Would you like a forest view or-” She cut herself off when she spotted Faith, and smiled at the girl. “We have a lovely two bed with the square view, if you’d like. Normally there’s an upgrade fee for the square, but as rent’s due, I’ll waive it.” 

Emma smiled at the woman, and tried to picture her with a crossbow like in the stories. It was surprisingly easy to imagine. “Square is fine.”

Granny pulled out a dusty old register, and Emma wondered how the woman had been able to afford rent without a single guest in the past three decades. “Now, what’s the name?”

“White. Emma White. And this is my daughter, Faith.”

“Emma. What a lovely name.” 

Emma whipped her head back to see who’d just spoken to her and saw a well-dressed man with a cane. Something about him unnerved her, and she found herself reaching out to pull Faith closer without even thinking about it. “Thanks.”

The man accepted a wad of cash from Granny, but never took his eyes off of Emma. If he was trying to come across as friendly, he was desperately failing. “It’s all here,” Granny told him brusquely, clearly eager to have him leave.

“Yes, yes, of course it is, dear. Thank you. You enjoy your stay… Emma.” Then he turned and left as abruptly as he’d appeared.

Emma slowly turned back to Granny. “Who was that?” 

It was the younger woman who answered. “Mr. Gold. He owns this place.” 

“The inn?”  
Granny slowly shook her head. “No, the town. So, how long will you be staying with us?”

Emma thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. “I’m not really sure yet. I’ve got some business here, and I don’t plan on leaving until it’s taken care of, but I’m not sure how long that will take.”

“I’ll mark you down for a week, then, but you can always extend your stay,” Granny answered back easily. She reached back to pull a key out of one of the slots behind her, and then held it out to Emma. “Welcome to Storybrooke.”

Emma and Faith headed up to their room with just the small overnight bags that they’d brought in with them, and flopped down onto their beds. “Well, unless the evil Queen looks a lot different than Gramps described her, I’m going to guess that that was Rumpelstiltskin,” Faith declared.

Emma nodded. “Yeah, I could believe that. I don’t know of anyone else who would own the whole town.” Then she sat up and gave her daughter a careful once-over. “You should stay away from him. We both know how dangerous that man is.”

Faith nodded. “Okay.” She took the bathroom first, and emerged in her pajamas before diving under the nice quilt that was on the bed she’d claimed. Emma wasn’t feeling tired yet, though, so she rifled through her bag until she found her laptop, and she plugged it in to charge once she realized that it was dead. She had the feeling that it was going to be a long night, since she always had some trouble sleeping in unfamiliar beds.

,,,

Elsewhere in town, a young girl looks out her bedroom window, and her eyes widen in surprise when the library clock ticks forward a minute. It suddenly occurs to her that she’s never seen that clock work before, and she wonders what had changed. 


	2. 2

Regina looked up from her apple tree as Sidney approached. She wasn’t sure how much use he’d actually been with the assignment she’d given him, but it was worth at least hearing him out. The fact that there were two strangers in town for no real reason that she could see made her nervous, and she wanted to know exactly who they were. “So what’d you find out about her?”   


Sidney sighed. “Well, the truth be told, there wasn’t much. She was raised by a single father, became a single mother at eighteen, traveled all over but has a permanent address in Boston that she’s always returned to. She’s uh, she’s been working as a bail bondsman since she finished college, where she graduated with a major in psychology and a minor in world history.”

Regina scowled at the pathetic man in front of her. “So if I’m understanding you correctly, you found nothing of value. Which means you have no value, Sideney. Do you know what I do with things that hold no value to me? I throw them away.”

Sidney gulped. “I-I’ll keep looking.” He didn’t leave immediately, though, he just stared at Regina for a few seconds until he dared to speak again. “If you don’t mind me asking- why do you even care so much?”

Regina’s grip tightened around the apple that was currently in her hand. “This is my town, Sidney. I have every right to know when strangers are skulking about. It is, afterall, my job to keep everyone here safe. Which I can’t do if I don’t know who I’m up against.” She gave Sidney a pointed look, and he nodded a few times before he scurried off, leaving Regina to continue tending to her apple tree in peace.

,,,

Emma kept one eye on the open newspaper in front of her to look for job openings and available housing (she had no idea how long it would take to break the curse, and she wasn’t sure if the local elementary school would take Faith without some kind of home address). Emma kept her other eye on Faith, who was very animated as she went back and forth between taking bites of her pancakes and telling a story about a butterfly that turns into a dragon on full moons.

Faith broke off in the middle of the story, and gave Emma an assessing look. “Hm.”

“What?”

Faith shrugged. “It’s nothing. Well, it’s just… that guy over there keeps looking at us. At you, really.”

Emma followed her daughter’s gaze, and saw an undeniably attractive man wearing clothes that seemed a size too tight on him. “See that badge sticking out from under his jacket? He’s got to be whatever passes for law enforcement around here.”

Faith tilted her head to the side as she thought about that. “Who do you think he really is?” she asked in a too-loud whisper.

Emma gave Faith a warning look. “You know the rules about when it’s okay to talk about that kind of stuff.”

Faith let out a long-suffering sigh. “Yeah, yeah, I know. So what are we going to do after breakfast?”

This was the part that Emma was not looking forward to. “I hate to break it to you, kid, but we’ve got to get you enrolled in school.”

If Emma didn’t know her kid as well as she did, she might actually fall for the look of betrayal on Faith’s face. “But I thought that this was supposed to be a family vacation?”

“Ha, yeah right. If I’m not getting a vacation right now, then you’re definitely not.” Faith let out an exaggeratedly long sigh, but she did hold Emma’s hand as they walked out to the car, which is how Emma knew that Faith wasn’t actually upset. Once they were both buckled up, Emma leaned over to gently nudge Faith. “Hey, school isn’t so bad, as long as it’s at least semi-normal here. And there will still be plenty of time for you to help with the curse-breaking efforts afterschool and on weekends.”

That seemed to be enough for Faith, because she brightened up considerably. “Promise?”

Emma held out her hand with just the pinky extended, and waited for Faith to loop her pinky with Emma’s. They shook once, and then Emma smiled. “I promise.” 

When they got to the school, Emma walked inside with Faith, and looked around for some kind of secretary to talk to. There wasn’t a front desk or anything, so she looked for any kind of adult. When she spotted one, Emma had to stop herself from gasping out loud. Even if David had never been the best artist, there was no mistaking that this woman was the one in the majority of his sketches. She was clearly Snow White.

Except that she wasn’t, of course, at least not for now. Not until Emma could figure out how to break this damn curse. Emma gave Faith’s hand a tight squeeze, because she knew that Faith had to also recognize the face of her grandmother. Maybe it should have been weirder that this woman looked about the same age as Emma, but Emma had only ever seen sketches of Snow at this age, so it didn’t bother her too much.

Snow spotted Emma, and made her way over through the crowd of children. “Hello! I don’t think I’ve seen either of you around here before. Is there something that I can help you with?”

It took a few seconds for Emma to be able to find her voice, and she forced herself to sound like there was nothing unusual about this situation. “Hi, I’m Emma White, this is my daughter Faith. We’re new in town, and I was wondering who to talk to about getting her enrolled.”

The dark-haired woman offered them both a warm smile as she held out her hand. “I’m Mary Margaret Blanchard, and I teach the fifth grade class here. I can help you get started with the paperwork if you’d like. This is exciting; I don’t even remember the last time a new family moved here. If you don’t mind me asking, where are you guys staying?”

The amount of friendliness radiating from Sn- Mary Margaret- felt almost overwhelming, and Emma couldn’t help wondering if she’d act the same way with all of her memories intact. “Right now we’ve just got a room at Granny’s, but I’m planning on looking around at vacancies today. Is that alright, or do we need an exact address before Faith can be enrolled?”

Mary Margaret looked back and forth between Faith and Emma for a moment, and then she gave them a mischievous little smile. “I’m sure that we’ll be able to work something out.”

,,,

It was strange to be in a classroom full of kids that she didn’t know. Even though Faith was used to traveling around with her mom quite often, she rarely got to skip any school for it, and they always returned home to David in the end. So Faith was used to growing up with the same group of kids, and even if she’d never been able to get super close to them (it was difficult to make friends while constantly hiding such an enormous secret), they were all familiar faces.

The kids in this room, however, were all completely unknown to Faith. But she did look forward to the challenge of getting to know them better. And hey, for all she knew, she might be able to somehow help with the process of breaking the curse by finding out information from some of these kids. Though maybe ‘kids’ wasn’t the right term to use when they were all technically older than her mom was. 

Since it was a nice day out, Mary Margaret took their class outside to talk to them. It was her first day, and she had no idea who to sit with, but then she noticed a girl sitting slightly apart from everyone else. Faith understood what it was like to be an outsider, even if it was generally self-inflicted in her case, so she plopped down next to the lonely looking girl.

When the girl looked up at her in confusion, Faith just offered one of her signature grins. “Hey, I’m Faith. I’m new here. Your hair is super cool.” It was dyed a faded pink, with just a few hints of white-blonde showing at the roots. 

The other girl blinked a few times in confusion, then offered up a tentative smile of her own. “I’m Cora.”

There wasn’t much time to talk after that, as Mary Margaret gently shushed everyone so that she could begin teaching. Just a short while after that, a scary looking woman strode up to the class. “May I speak with my daughter?”

Mary Margaret frowned. “We’re in the middle of a lesson. Is it important?”

“Do you think I’d be here if it wasn’t?” 

When the woman started walking closer, for a crazy moment Faith thought that she was after her. But then she looked down at Cora. She reached down, and Cora accepted the hand up and walked a little ways away with the woman, who was presumably her mother. They talked for just a minute, and Faith watched as Cora’s face drooped down, but the bell rang so she couldn’t stick around to find out what had happened. Hopefully it wasn’t anything too bad, but based on what Faith knew about everything that had happened in the Enchanted Forest, she wouldn’t be at all surprised if there was some tragedy or disaster in the works.

,,,

Emma went to get Faith after school, and exchanged polite nods of greeting with Mary Margaret. Maybe she would have stuck around to try and chat a little bit, but Mary Margaret was already busy talking to another adult, so Emma just took Faith’s hand and led her back to the car.

During the entire ride back to the inn, Faith went on and on about every single detail of her day, and Emma loved hearing all of it. Back at the inn, she and Faith started up the stairs, but she paused when she heard footsteps hurry up behind them. 

She turned around and saw Granny standing there, shifting nervously on her feet. “Miss White. Oh my, this is terribly awkward. Uh, I need to ask you to leave. I’m afraid we have a ‘no felons’ rule. It… it turns out it’s a city ordinance.”

Emma furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “But I’m not a felon, here or anywhere else.”

Granny shrugged, looking miserable. “You’ll just have to take that up with the Sheriff’s department. But for now, you can gather your things, but I need to have your room key back.”

It was tempting to argue, but Emma knew that it wouldn’t accomplish anything. And besides, whatever was going on here, she was pretty sure that it wasn’t Granny’s fault. So she handed over the key, and then guided Faith into their room so that they could grab all of the stuff they’d brought in with them. She had to give Faith a stern look to make sure that her daughter didn’t try to argue either, and then they got out of there as quickly as possible.

Once their stuff was in the trunk, Emma pulled Faith into a hug. “Don’t worry, we’re going to figure this out.”

“I think this is a good sign,” Faith declared. “The town wouldn’t be trying to kick us out if we weren’t on the right track, right?”

Emma smiled. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Now come on, let’s go find somewhere we can go for dinner. I’ll talk to the Sheriff in the morning, and I’m sure we’ll get everything straightened out.”

Faith nodded. “Of course we will. You can fix anything.”

,,,

Regina stared at her apple tree. She wasn’t sure why, but she had gotten the strangest feeling that it was in danger, even though it looked perfectly normal to her. As she stood there, she was nearly startled by the sound of someone clearing their throat. “What a shame.”

Regina turned to see Mr. Gold standing there, and she frowned at his words. “What can I do for you, Mr. Gold?” There was no point in asking what he’d meant, since he seemed to live for vague and cryptic bullshit.

He gave her a small smile that didn’t even come close to reaching his eyes. “I was just in the neighborhood. Though I’d pop by. Lovely to see you in such high spirits.”

Regina shrugged one shoulder. “Well, it’s been a good day. I just rid the town of an unwanted nuisance.” She wasn’t sure what had drawn Emma and her daughter to this town, but she was sure that they wouldn’t want to stick around when they were clearly so unwanted here. It was best for everyone that they leave, before they could cause any kind of unnecessary problems.

She didn’t like the way Mr. Gold laughed, though. “Emma White? Really? I just saw her strolling down main street with her girl. Perhaps you should have come to me. If Miss White is a problem you can’t fix, I’m only too happy to help. For a price, of course.”

“I’m not in the business of making deals with you anymore.”

Mr. Gold arched one eyebrow. “To which deal are you referring?” Then he continued on without waiting for an answer from her. “Oh, right, yeah. The girl I procured for you. Cora. Did I ever tell you what a lovely name that was? However did you pick it?”

Regina stared at Mr. Gold, but she couldn't tell what he was thinking. He’d always been an expert at hiding his true thoughts from everyone around him. When she realized that he wasn’t going to say anything else, she pursed her lips together. “Miss White is no threat to me, whether she chooses to stay in Storybrooke or not. Though I do wonder how it is she came to be here. Who exactly is she? Tell me what you know about her.”

The look in Gold’s eyes felt like it would burn a hole right through her. “I’m not going to answer you, dear. So I suggest you excuse me. Please.” He took a few steps passed her, but then paused to look back over his shoulder. “Besides, what difference does it make? I thought she was no threat to you.” Then he continued on his way, leaving Regina to stare after him in shock. 


	3. 3

Mary Margaret shook her head in disgust as she left Granny’s diner, and wondered why she had ever thought that it would be a good idea to accept going on a date with Dr. Whale. Clearly he had a very different set of priorities than Mary Margaret did, and she felt foolish for letting herself believe that she might actually find something real with him. It’s not as though she was in love with Dr. Whale specifically, but sometimes she just wished that soulmates and true love could be real.

As she walked down the street, Mary Margaret spotted the horrendously bright orange car that belonged to Emma White. She probably wouldn’t have even noticed, but the lights were on inside the car, and Mary Margaret could clearly see Emma flipping through a newspaper.

Since the window was rolled down anyways, Mary Margaret didn’t feel too weird about walking up and starting a conversation. “Hey, you okay?”  
Emma glanced up, then did a double take. She spoke in a hushed whisper, nodding to the backseat as she did so. “This is hardly the worst place we’ve crashed.”

That’s when Mary Margaret noticed the girl sleeping in the backseat. It may have only been a couple of days, but she did recognize her new student. She had to force herself not to let her voice rise up in horror, not wanting to wake the sleeping Faith. “You’re sleeping here?”

“Til we find a place. Though this town doesn’t seem to have any vacancies. Is that normal?” There was something pointed about the question, though Mary Margaret had no idea what it was supposed to mean.

She just shrugged. “Must just be a small town quirk.”

Mary Margaret didn’t understand why that answer seemed to make Emma look disappointed, though the look only lasted for a second, so she might have just misinterpreted it. “Why are you out so late?”

“Well I’m a teacher, not a nun. I had a date.”

Emma’s eyes widened, and it seemed like it took a moment to collect herself before she could speak again. “From the looks of it, it went well.”

Mary Margaret sighed. “As well as they ever do.”

“Tell me he at least paid?” Mary Margaret shook her head, and Emma wrinkled her nose. “Ew.”

Mary Margaret just shrugged. “Well, I guess if true love was easy, we’d all have it.” She paused for a moment, and then found herself talking again before she could stop herself. “You know, if things get cramped, I do have a spare room. It’s not that I’m judging you or anything, but Faith is only ten, and…”

She trailed off as she tried to figure out what the journey of emotions that ran across Emma’s face meant. “Thanks, but why would you offer that? We’re basically complete strangers to you. We could be dangerous criminals for all you know.”

That was actually a good question, but Mary Margaret didn’t really have a good answer for it. “I’m not sure. I guess I just- I trust you.” 

When Emma didn’t answer right away, Mary Margaret got ready to retract the offer and be on her way, but then Emma finally spoke, and gave Mary Margaret a small smile. “We would actually really appreciate it. I’ve got some savings so you don’t have to worry about my ability to contribute to rent, but I am looking to find a job as quickly as possible.”

The question of money hadn’t even occurred to Mary Margaret (and she decided not to think too much on what that might say about her). “I’m sure we’ll be able to work out all the details in the morning. For now I’m more concerned with getting you and your girl a good night’s sleep. So do you want to follow me on foot or drive? My place isn’t too far from here.”

Emma glanced back at where Faith was still peacefully slumbering away, and then she looked up at Mary Margaret. “Maybe you could just drive us there?” She slid over into the passenger seat so that Mary Margaret would be able to get into the driver side, and then they were silent in the minute or two that it took to reach her place. 

When they got there, Mary Margaret helped carry up one two of the smaller bags from the trunk that Emma had indicated, while Emma carefully scooped up Faith and carried her up the stairs. Mary Margaret led Emma up to the little mezzanine that made up the spare room, and then watched for a moment as Emma tucked her daughter in and then leaned over to kiss Faith’s forehead.

Then the two adults went back downstairs, though they would still need to be quiet because of how open the loft was. “We can get another bed tomorrow,” Mary Margaret offered. “For now, there’s a semi-lumpy couch that only has a small chance of throwing your back off for the rest of your life.”

Emma snorted. “You really know how to sell the place, don’t you.” Then she sighed as she sank down into one of the chairs at the main table. “I feel like I really didn’t plan things through very well before coming here. If it was just me, it wouldn’t even be a big deal, but- ugh, and I don’t even understand why I was kicked out of Granny’s inn. She said that I’m a felon or something, but I’ve never been arrested for anything. The worst I’ve ever done was a couple of parking tickets when I was younger.”

Mary Margaret went over to the stove to get the kettle going. This seemed like the kind of conversation that was going to need some hot chocolate. “Have you tried calling the Sheriff’s office? Maybe you could get some answers there.”

Emma sighed. “I called, but there was just an answering machine, so I swung by in person, but there was no one there. Is there seriously only one cop working in this town?” 

“Small towns really don’t have that much crime,” Mary Margaret had to point out with some amusement, as she recalled that Emma was used to living in the big city. “There’s never been anything that was too much for Graham to handle on his own. You should try going by again tomorrow to get this all cleared up.” 

Before she could finish making their drinks, Emma abruptly stood, and stretched her arms up over her head. “I know it’s early, but I think I’m going to try and get some sleep now anyways. And I’m sure you like to turn in early so that you can make it to work on time in the morning. I certainly do not envy you.”

Mary Margaret just shrugged. “It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it. Oh- let me just grab you some spare blankets and a pillow so you can make up the couch.”

She didn’t actually move towards the closet, though, because she could see the way that Emma paused, so Mary Margaret waited patiently for the other woman to speak. “It looks like the bed up there is pretty spacious, so I think I’ll just share with Faith for now. It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just…” She trailed off and gave Mary Margaret a helpless look.

“It’s alright, I get it. You wouldn’t want Faith to wake up alone in a place she didn’t fall asleep in, right?”

Emma gave her a grateful look. “Yeah. Yeah, exactly.” She surprised both of them when she suddenly moved to give Mary Margaret a very brief hug. “Thank you so much for everything.” Then she hurried up the stairs, leaving Mary Margaret to stare after her in bemusement. She didn’t regret offering up the spare room, though. She still wasn’t sure why, but she just knew that she could trust Emma.

,,,

Mary Margaret hesitated on her way out the door. “I’m heading to the school right now. I know it’s still early for the students, but if you want, I could bring Faith and she could hang out with me while I get everything ready for the day?”   


Even as Emma opened her mouth, Mary Margaret could already see that her offer was going to be turned down. But then Faith eagerly grabbed her backpack and jacket off the couch. “Let’s all walk together!” 

Emma laughed as she pulled on her own jacket. “Alright. If you don’t mind?”   


“No, not at all,” Mary Margaret was quick to assure. “It’ll be nice to get to know my new roommates a little bit better.” 

Even though she barely knew Faith, Mary Margaret found that she was not at all surprised that the girl wanted to chatter away the entire drive to the school. She talked about anything and everything, while Emma occasionally nodded along in agreement to the wilder sounding stories. 

It wasn’t until they actually reached the school that it occurred to Mary Margaret that there was a problem with their chosen method of transportation. “I need my car here so that I can get home again after work, but that means that you don’t have a way of getting back.”

Emma just shrugged, and Mary Margaret felt impressed by the other woman’s ability to truly never seem bothered by much of anything. “That’s alright. I can walk to the Sheriff’s office from here, right? I still do need to talk to him about the whole felony misunderstanding thing.”

“Right, yes!” She gave Emma directions to get to the Sheriff’s office, then led Faith inside the school and to their classroom. “So I know you guys haven’t gotten the best introduction to the place, but how are you liking Storybrooke so far?”

Faith tilted her head and gave Mary Margaret a long look, and then she just shrugged. “It’s alright. I’ve been to cooler places, though. The stuff I was telling you about in the car isn’t even half of our adventures. Me and my mom have been all over the country, but she’s been to more places than me because I still have to go to school. But at least Gramps said-” then she abruptly cut herself off and switched the topic without a drop of subtlety. “So what are we gonna be learning about today?”

This was the first mention of any other family member of the Whites, but Mary Margaret didn’t try to push. She let Faith get away with the subject change, and started to explain her lesson plans for the day. It was surprisingly easy to lose track of time while talking to Faith. There was just something so… familiar about her. But then the other students started filing in, and Mary Margaret didn’t have time to follow that train of thought.

,,,

Faith bounded into the diner after she waved goodbye to Mary Margaret, who had kindly dropped her off. Emma’s car was in the parking lot, which means that she must’ve gone back to the loft at some point to get it. She easily spotted her mom and slid into the seat across from her just as Ruby set down two mugs of hot chocolate, with cinnamon sprinkled on top. “So how was your day?”

Emma shrugged. “It was weird. Someone’s kid wandered off so I helped find them, and then the Sheriff offered me a job. I’m not sure that I really trust the guy, but there is dental, and it does seem like we’ll be here a while, so I said I’d think about it. I wanted to talk it over with your Gramps first, though. I took a covert picture of Graham to send to him, but he hasn’t responded yet.” Just then, as if by magic, her phone started buzzing. When she moved to grab it, she accidentally bumped over her hot chocolate and it ended up spilling all over her white shirt. “Shit!” Ruby hurried over with a small towel. “Do you have a laundry room I could use?”

,,,

Emma looked at Mr. Gold, more sure than before that he was Rumplestiltskin after listening to him go on about contracts and deals. “What do you want?” She knew that it was a very dangerous question, but she also knew that Ashley deserved the chance to be a mother if that’s what she wanted to be. Being a parent was one of the hardest things in the world, but also one of the most rewarding, and everyone deserves the chance to choose for themselves if that was something they wanted. And Ashley had made her choice. 

The smile on Mr. Gold’s face made Emma want to punch him, but she knew that she couldn’t. Even without magic in this world, Mr. Gold was still a very dangerous person to have as an enemy. “Oh, I don’t know just yet. You’ll owe me a favor.”

“Deal,” Emma agreed instantly, even though she could feel it in her gut that that was not a great idea. But she knew that it was worth it when she saw just how happy Ashley looked upon getting the news that she could keep her baby. 

They didn’t linger for long after that, though they did pass by Sean in the hallway on their way out. Faith stopped to offer the young man a high five, and he accepted the gesture with some bemusement before he continued in the direction of Ashley’s room.

Once they were out of the hospital and in the car, Faith grinned as she turned to look at Emma, practically bouncing up and down in her seat in excitement. “That was so incredible! We bested Rumplestiltskin and helped Cinderella and her prince charming! We- You are already making such a difference here, can’t you feel it?”

Emma had to smile at her daughter’s excitement, even as her stomach twisted nervously at the thought of owing a favor to Mr. Gold. When they got back to the loft, Emma sent Faith up ahead of her, while she stayed in the car to dial David’s number.

He answered immediately. “Is everything alright? You never answered my call yesterday.”

Emma swore under her breath as she remembered the call that had led to her meeting Ashley in the first place. “Yes, sorry, I’ve just had a lot on my mind. Did you get that picture I sent you?”

“Yeah, I recognize him. He’s the Queen’s Huntsman. He saved Snow’s life at the price of his own heart, and also saved me. He’s in Regina’s pocket, but you can trust him. I would have told you sooner, but it would’ve taken too long to text all of that.”

Emma nodded even though she knew David wouldn’t be able to see it, and she laughed even though she knew that he would be able to hear it. “Alright, thanks, old man.” She hesitated for a moment before deciding to confide in her father. She’d been raised to know that honesty was very important between family, and also that David would never get mad at the decisions she made. “Just out of curiosity, how big a deal do you think it is to owe a favor to Rumplestiltskin?”

There was a moment of silence before David responded. “What happened?” Emma let out a long breath, and then explained the day’s events. David didn’t try to interrupt her, and didn’t speak until she was done. “That was a very noble thing to do for her, Emma. Ella and Thomas were friends of ours, and I’m glad that they were able to find each other again here, since Thomas was never heard from again in the Enchanted Forest. As for Rumplestiltskin, I don’t think he’ll ask you to do anything too impossible. But I do know that whatever he asks of you, you’ll have to do it. I’ve told you all the stories I know about him, and for each of those, I’m sure there’s a hundred others just like them. It never ends well for people who try to break their deals with him. Just stay safe, alright? And remember that if you really have to, you and Faith can just get out of there. No one would be able to give chase.”

“I know. But we’re not going to run, Dad. This curse is going to be broken, I swear it.”

“I believe you. And I love you. Stay safe, alright?”

Emma nodded. “You too, Dad.” After she hung up with him, she pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket so that she could dial a different number. “Graham? It’s Emma. I was thinking, maybe some roots here wouldn’t be so bad. That deputy job still open?”

“Absolutely,” Graham assured her. 

Emma grinned. “Then I’m in.”

She could practically hear the smile in Graham’s voice when he responded. “I’ll see you Monday morning.”

“See ya.” 

Emma smiled to herself as she headed up to the loft, eager to share the news with Faith and Mary Margaret. For however long it was going to take to break this damn curse, Emma was here to stay. 


	4. 4

Faith kicked at some loose wood chips on the playground, and spoke without actually looking up at her friend. “Have you noticed that there aren’t any crickets here?”

Even without looking, Faith knew that Cora had probably just frowned in response to that sudden question. “It’s the middle of the day, of course there aren’t going to be any crickets out.”

The only reason Faith was able to refrain from rolling her eyes was because she was already so used to people not understanding or believing her. She always did her best to follow the rules that her mom and granddad had set down for her, but sometimes little things slipped out, and it never seemed to matter. So she just took a deep breath and slowly let it out, forcing herself to remain patient. “There’s never any crickets here,” she corrected in the gentlest voice she could manage while talking to a peer. When she did finally look up, she could tell that Cora didn’t understand, and Faith didn’t want to risk talking any more on this topic. “Anyways, have you heard about that new Myra movie that’s coming out soon? I love her.” 

Cora wrinkled her nose. “I dunno, she was really weird in that last show she was in. I mean, how could any straight woman turn down someone as handsome as the guy playing her husband?”

Faith rolled her eyes. “He was being a douche. And don’t bother telling on me, my mom already said I’m allowed to say that when it’s true.” When Cora didn’t respond, Faith was worried that her friend didn’t really get the point. “A woman is allowed to turn down anyone she doesn’t want to be with,” she said informatively. It was a lesson that Emma had always made sure to drill into Faith’s head. 

“I know that,” Cora snapped, sounding like someone who hadn’t actually known that at all. “Anyways, this is boring. Let’s go to the beach.”

It was impossible for Faith to contain her surprise at that. “You’re okay with skipping school? Aren’t you worried about your mom killing you?” She meant it in a literal sense, seeing as Cora’s mother was the evil queen, but Cora didn’t take it that way.

She just shrugged. “She won’t do anything. Not if she doesn’t find out, anyways.” Then she gave Faith a mischievous look, and Faith was helpless to do anything but match it. “So are you coming?”

As if Faith would ever turn down the opportunity for an adventure. “Lead the way!” They glanced around to make sure nobody was watching, and then slipped off the playground together.

,,,

Emma clipped her new badge onto her belt, and the whole room immediately shook. She looked at Graham with wide eyes, but he just shrugged. Then the phones started ringing, and both of them hurried to answer. “Sheriff’s station, how can I help you?”

The voice on the other end was clearly panicked. “Whatever that earthquake just was, it caused a collapse at the old mines!”

,,,

“Good thing you were there to help keep everyone back. It could have been seriously dangerous if anyone had gone down there.”

Emma snorted. “Yeah, because it was such hard work to hold off a few busybodies. Well, as exciting as today has been, I have to go home and see my kid. Mary Margaret called earlier, while everything was going down, and said that Faith decided to cut class today. With the mayor’s kid of all people.”

Graham just laughed at her, the jerk. “Well, it’s just a good thing that they had no interest in playing around in the mines.”

Emma shuddered at the thought. “Yeah, good thing. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” She hesitated before gathering up her jacket. “Oh, and Graham? Thanks for giving me this job.”

He gave her a friendly smile, and maybe in another life, she would have fallen for it. “Thank you for taking it. You’re going to be a good deputy. Now go home and scold your kid. And hug her. Maybe not in that order.”

Emma nodded as she left the station and got into her car. For a supposedly boring little town, what were the odds that she would have such an exciting first day on the job? As she thought that, she couldn’t help glancing down at the badge still clipped to her belt. Of course it hadn’t escaped her notice that the earthquake had happened right after she’d put it on, and it seemed difficult to believe that such a thing could just be a coincidence. Was it too much to hope that the curse was already growing weaker?

,,,

When she got home, she was immediately met with a look of guilt from Mary Margaret. “I’m so sorry about what happened today. I know it what it must look like, but I swear that I normally keep a close eye on all the kids when we’re outside, and-”

Emma held up one hand to stop the rambling before it could go any further. “I don’t blame you for something that was Faith’s decision. She can be a bit… free-spirited at times, but we have certain rules between us. She didn’t go anywhere dangerous, and she was with another person, and she is still doing her homework for the day, so I don’t think it’s worth getting too worked up over.”

“Does that mean I’m not in trouble?” Faith’s voice came from the stairs, and Emma looked over to see her daughter pressed up against the railing. 

Emma walked over to sit next to Faith on the steps. “You know, next time you plan on sneaking away, you might want to do it in a class where you don’t live with the teacher. I thought I raised you to be smarter than that.”

Mary Margaret stared at Emma and Faith. “You are taking your daughter skipping school surprisingly well. Is this something that happens a lot? Because I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you actually can get in trouble with the school if your kid misses too much now that she’s officially enrolled there.”

“It’s not a common occurrence, but I also can’t say I’m particularly surprised. We’re in a new place, so it’s got to be exciting to explore it all without her mom around.”

Faith grinned as she bumped shoulders with Emma. “The part that my mom refuses to say out loud is that I’m just like my dad.”

Mary Margaret looked like she really wanted to ask for clarification about that, but was too kind. Emma just nudged Faith back. “How would you know that?”

“Because you and Gramps have told me all about him,” she answered smugly.

Emma let out an exaggerated sigh. “The point is that you shouldn’t have cut class, but as long as you promise to not do it again, I don’t see any reason to punish you. Just keep your exploration of the town to outside of school hours from now on, alright?”

Faith bobbed her head up and down fast enough that everything had to look blurry to her for a moment. “I promise!” They both knew that it was likely that Faith would end up breaking that promise at some point in the future, but Emma decided to be satisfied with it for now. She’d learned long ago that when it came to her daughter, she just needed to pick her battles.

With that business taken care of, the three of them shuffled over to the kitchen so that they could all make dinner together. It ended up getting slightly burned, but still came out edible, so Faith loudly declared that it was a win, and Emma and Mary Margaret graciously decided to agree. It was a fun night, and Emma found that it was surprisingly nice to live with someone who wasn’t part of the family. Then she immediately excused herself and went up to the mezzanine. She couldn’t believe she’d just thought that. But it was technically true, wasn’t it? Snow White might be her mother, but Mary Margaret was nothing more than a friend. She really needed to break this damn curse soon.

,,,

Emma was just looking through some paperwork, about the resolved case of a missing birdhouse (turned out that the neighbor’s cat had knocked it down and stolen it, and the owner of the birdhouse decided not to press charges). Graham walked in with a box of donuts in hand, and he held it out towards her. “Okay, what do you want?”

“Remember when I said no night shifts? I need you to work tonight. Just this once.”

Emma raised one eyebrow as she looked at him carefully. “Why?”   


“I volunteer at an animal shelter, and the supervisor’s sick, and someone needs to feed the dogs.”

When he looked at her with such pitiable puppy dog eyes, Emma had to oblige him. “You’re lucky you brought a bear claw.” Graham gave her a big grin as he thanked her, and then retreated to his office. Emma leaned back in her seat and ate her donut as she made a mental list of the stuff she needed to get done for the rest of the day. She’d have to call Mary Margaret and ask if she was alright with watching Faith for the night. Since they weren’t technically family, at least not at the moment, she couldn’t just assume that Mary Margaret never had anything better to do than babysit. Not that Faith wasn’t capable of taking care of herself, but it was very rare for her to be alone all night, since either Emma or David had always been home. Emma’s stomach clenched as she thought about her father.

It was strange, because she’d traveled all over the country, and had to leave David behind quite often, but somehow this time seemed worse. There was something different about knowing that he was so close by, and yet she couldn’t go see him anyways. Ugh, she’d need a lot of caffeine to make sure she didn’t start cracking up like this while patrolling tonight.

,,,

Emma was just driving around on her patrol, when she spotted a shadowy figure climbing out a second story window of a big, fancy-looking house. She carefully crept over to the sidewalk, and jumped at them as soon as they were close enough. The last person she expected to see was Graham.

,,,

Even though she really wanted to, Emma had to refrain from slamming the door shut when she got back to the loft. It was late enough that Faith was already supposed to be in bed, and the last thing Emma wanted to do was wake her up and set a bad precedent. 

Mary Margaret looked up from the book she was reading, and furrowed her eyebrows. “You’re back early. I thought you said you’d be working the night shift?”

Emma shuffled over to the kitchen so that she could grab the bottle of whiskey that was being stored on top of the fridge (where Faith wouldn’t be able to get to it without some creative maneuvers). She poured herself a glass and gulped it down quickly. “I don’t think that I should talk about it. Just… I saw something that I didn’t want to see. It shouldn’t even bother me this much, but it just does.” 

She made her way over to sink down onto the couch next to Mary Margaret. “But hey, at least you’re off the hook for tonight.”

Mary Margaret sighed, and grabbed a bookmark to gently slide in between the pages to keep her place. “Do you believe in true love?”

Emma blinked a few times at the sudden question, and then slumped back against the cushions. “Yeah, I guess I kinda have to. I mean, not for me, but for… well. My parents were each other’s true loves.”

“Oh?” Mary Margaret scooted closer, clearly interested in hearing more.

Emma wasn’t sure if it was smart to talk about this with Mary Margaret of all people, but she didn’t want to lie to the woman who’d been so kind to her in the short amount of time that they’d known each other. “Yeah. I mean, I never knew my mom, but from all the stories my dad’s told me about her, I can’t believe that they were anything other than true loves.”

“So why wouldn’t you believe it’s possible for you? Does this have something to do with Faith’s father?”

That was definitely something Emma wanted to get into with someone who wouldn’t fully understand all of it, but she didn’t want to discourage Mary Margaret from believing in true love. “It wasn’t like that between us. I was young when I met him, only eighteen. He was charming and it felt like he understood me in ways that a lot of people didn’t. Being with him wasn’t the easiest thing, but once we got into our rhythm, things were good between us. But then other things came up, and he left before I even knew I was pregnant with Faith. I had no way of getting in touch with him, so it’s just been me, Faith, and my dad her whole life.”

“If you had known from the start that it wouldn’t be true love, would you have still wanted to be with him?”

That was a question that Emma didn’t even need to think about for a second. “Of course. Faith is the best thing to ever happen to me, and I’d never want to go through a version of life that doesn’t have her in it.”

A few seconds passed in silence, and then Mary Margaret abruptly stood up. “If you’re alright here, I think I might head out for a little while.”

“Sure. Where are you going?”

Mary Margaret hesitated for a moment, then gave Emma a small smile that didn’t seem too happy. “I don’t think I can keep waiting for true love forever. I just… I’ll be back later, alright?” She hurried to grab her jacket and head out the door. Emma watched in bemusement, but figured that Mary Margaret would talk when she was ready to.

,,,

Mary Margaret went to Granny’s diner, and got a drink. She’d had the urge to get drunk, but was at least responsible enough not to do so where one of her students might see her at home. Hence coming here. She fidgeted with the ring on her finger, resigned to the fact that it would never be replaced with a wedding ring. “Rough day?”

Mary Margaret jerked her head up in surprise at the sudden voice, and frowned when she saw Dr. Whale standing there. “Don’t feel like talking.” But she didn’t stop him when he sank down into the chair across from hers. Dr. Whale was definitely not her true love, regardless of whether such a thing was real or not, but maybe she could at least enjoy her night.


	5. 5

Emma stared at Mary Margaret with what she hoped wasn’t too judgemental of a look. “Oh my god, you called him? That is definitely not a one night stand.” She definitely did not want to think about her mother having a one night stand with anyone, but especially not Dr. Whale. Emma had no idea who Dr. Whale had been in the Enchanted Forest; all she knew was that he was the type of guy who definitely gave off sleazy vibes, and Mary Margaret deserved way better than that.

Mary Margaret groaned lightly. “Well, okay. I’m still learning. I’ve never had one before. I felt guilty.”

Morally, Emma knew that she should say Mary Margaret had done nothing wrong. There was no reason that a woman shouldn’t be allowed to have one night stands with whoever she wanted. But from a more personal standpoint, Emma felt like it would be wrong to encourage that behavior when she selfishly wanted Mary Margaret to be madly in love with David despite not knowing that he even existed. “You shouldn’t feel guilty, there’s nothing wrong with what you did. But… I thought you were holding out for your true love?”

When she saw the conflicted look on Mary Margaret’s face, Emma desperately wished that she could be anywhere but here. Let someone else have this conversation, why did it have to be her? She would definitely never have this kind of conversation with Faith even twenty years from now. It just didn’t seem like the kind of thing that should be discussed between parent and child. But that was the problem, wasn’t it? Mary Margaret had no clue that she even had a child, let alone that it was Emma. Right now all she could be to Mary Margaret was a friend, and a good friend would listen and give advice about relationships. It was fine, she could get through this like an adult. And she planned on repressing all memories of this conversation as soon as it was over (and she would definitely not tell David about it), so it would be okay.

The mention of true love had put a wistful look on Mary Margaret’s face as she filled a vase with water so that she could take care of the flowers that had been gifted to her. “I don’t know. I mean, doesn’t true love just seem so unobtainable? This is the real world. People date and fall in love, but not that all-consuming love that’s so perfect that you know from the very first glance that you’re meant to be soulmates. I know what you said about your parents, but I just can’t see it being real.”

This was bad, but Emma could still salvage the situation. She didn’t know what exactly would happen once the curse broke, and Emma didn’t want her mom to do anything that would turn into a regret later on. “Well yeah, when you say it like that it does sound unrealistic. Look, I’m not going to pretend that I could ever understand what ‘true love’ really means. But I think that it isn’t about love at first sight. I think it’s about caring about someone enough to learn everything about them, until you know them as well as you know yourself. I think if true love is real then it’s not about a single chance encounter, but about working to build something special.”

Mary Margaret blinked a few times, then gave Emma a curious look. “That was pretty poetic of you.”

Emma shrugged one shoulder. “It’s been known to happen on occasion.” Then she looked down at her watch and cleared her throat. “I should really get going if I want to get to work on time. I’m not sure what exactly things are going to be like today, but I have the feeling that me and Graham really need to talk, and it’s not exactly going to be fun. Anyways, just do what feels right when it comes to Whale. If anyone’s got a chance of figuring all this crap out, then it’s you.”

“That was surprisingly motivational,” Mary Margaret commented with a small laugh. “Thank you. Have fun at work today!”

Emma nodded and waved over her shoulder as she headed out the front door. The conversation she dreaded having with Graham seemed like it was going to end up being just as bad as the conversation she had just escaped from.

,,,

The day had just been too confusing and weird, and all of Emma’s anger from last night, and from the weird kiss that had happened this morning, had completely evaporated in her worry. Something was clearly wrong with Graham, if the trail he was making across the town was anything to go by. She finally caught up with him outside Regina’s house, and hurried to lead him down the street so that the evil queen wouldn’t be able to listen in on them. “Hey. Hear you’re having a rough day.”

He barely looked up at her. “Who says?”  
“Pretty much everyone. I think maybe you need to go home and get some rest.”

Graham adamantly shook his head. “I’m fine.”

Emma tried to keep the frustration out of her voice. She didn’t understand exactly what was wrong with Graham, but she knew that he wasn’t acting like his normal self, and it was worrisome. “No, Graham, you’re not fine. You’ve been all over town asking everyone about how you met them, and they’re all worried about you. What’s going on? What’s really going on?”

“It’s my heart, Emma. I need to find it.”

Emma sucked in a sharp gasp as she remembered what her father had said about Graham. He was the Huntsman, and he had saved Snow at the price of his own heart. Whatever was going on, it clearly had to do with the curse. Emma wasn’t sure why it seemed to be falling apart for Graham alone, but this was the closest she’d gotten so far to figuring out how to break the damn thing once and for all.

Not to mention that it would just be cruel to deny knowing anything when she did have at least some idea of what was going on. She reached out to gently grab Graham’s arm, and he just stared at her with desperate, feverish eyes. “Graham, I need you to listen to me. I know that what I’m about to say is probably going to sound crazy, but it’s the truth.” She hesitated for a moment, then continued. This was an unprecedented situation, and she was sure that David would understand her choice to share her biggest secret with Graham. “There’s a curse on the people of this town…”

,,,

The entire time Emma explained things, Graham said nothing. He just stared at her attentively, making her have to look away to avoid meeting the intense look in his eyes. When she was done, Graham gulped. “It all makes sense,” he whispered to himself. “Where’s the queen’s vault? I have to find my heart, Emma. I have to.”

She opened her mouth to apologize and tell him that she had no idea where to even begin looking, but then paused. She silently pointed to a spot behind Graham, and he slowly turned around to see what she was looking at. There was a wolf standing there, one with two different colored eyes, and as soon as it saw that both of them were looking at it, it took off.

Graham and Emma were quick to chase after it. She didn’t know much about the Huntsman, but she did know that there was no way a wolf suddenly appearing could be marked off as a coincidence.

The wolf made sure to slow down just enough for them to catch up every time they started to lag, carefully making sure that they never fully lost sight of it. They ended up chasing it through the graveyard, and then beyond there. The wolf disappeared once Emma and Graham were standing in front of a little mausoleum. 

Graham’s eyes widened as he stared at it. “It’s my heart, it’s in there.”

Maybe being a deputy meant that Emma was supposed to prevent crime from happening when she found herself with the opportunity to do so. But right now she was willing to make an exception, because it was so obvious that Graham needed to know more about himself. And that he needed to be able to reclaim his heart if it was something that Regina still physically had possession of in this world.

Which is why she was willing to take a few steps back, and then rush forward and kick the door in once she realized that the door wasn’t going to be jarred open with a few polite rattles of the handles. Once the door burst open, they both stepped inside the crypt and began looking around.

“It’s got to be in here. Somewhere,” Graham muttered to himself. “There’s got to be a hidden door. A lever. Something.”

Emma reached out to touch Graham’s arm again. “Graham, hey, it’s going to be okay If this is the place where your heart is, then we’ll find it, I promise.”

Graham turned to look at her hopefully. “You said you’re the savior. Isn’t there some magic or something you could use to help us find it sooner?” 

Emma had never hated her lack of magic more than she did in that moment. “I’m sorry, but-”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Regina’s voice suddenly called from outside.

Both Graham and Emma looked at each other with wide eyed worry. Emma winced, and spoke in a quick whisper. “Whatever you do, you can’t let Regina know about any of the stuff I’ve told you about the curse. Whatever she asks you to do for now, please go along with it if you can. I swear to you that we will find your heart, but in order to do that, we need to be smart about this.”

Even though it looked like he really didn’t want to, Graham gave a nod of agreement, and then he and Emma both walked out of the crypt. Regina stood there looking pissed, and if Emma hadn’t known that she was the evil queen, she would feel bad about having trespassed somewhere they clearly weren’t meant to be.

Regina didn’t have to repeat her question, because Graham blurted out, “Don’t blame her. It’s my fault. I wanted to look in there.”

“Really? Why? What were you looking for?”

Graham sighed, and his shoulders slumped down tiredly. “Nothing. It was uh… nothing.”

Regina took a few steps forward so that she could grab Graham’s arm. “You don’t look well, dear. Let’s take you home.”

If Emma wasn’t looking for it, she probably wouldn’t have noticed the slight moment of reluctance in Graham’s body language. He didn’t want to go with Regina, but he had to if they wanted to keep her in the dark for as long as possible. “Yeah… yeah I should get home.”

They only took a few steps before Regina paused and glanced over her shoulder. “And Miss White? If I catch you trespassing here again, I will be pressing charges.” Then she practically dragged Graham away.

Once they were out of sight, Emma walked right back into the crypt. She trusted that Graham would be able to keep Regina distracted for at least long enough to search the entire place. Like Graham had said before, there had to be some kind of secret thing going on in here. She doubted that he would have been so certain that this was the right place if it actually wasn’t. 

When pressing and shifting aside everything she could reach didn’t reveal anything new, Emma was at a bit of a loss. But she couldn’t just give up now. Graham needed her to do this. He deserved to be able to make his own choices in life, and to feel the things that were all a natural part of being alive.

But even after several more minutes of searching, Emma still wasn’t able to find anything. She was reluctant to leave, but she had no idea when Regina might return. Emma would definitely come back here as soon as she could, though. She wasn’t going to leave Graham without his heart for even a moment longer than she had to.

Emma left and returned home, eager to get a hug from Faith and then sit around and eat some ice cream or something. She could only hope that whatever else might happen, Graham would be alright.

,,,

When she walked into the station in the morning and saw Graham already waiting there, Emma let out a long sigh of relief. She hadn’t really thought that Regina would just kill him in cold blood for no real reason, but Emma wasn’t sure how much of that was just naive optimism. She had heard plenty of stories of the evil queen growing up, including just how many chances she had been given, and had refused to take. So to see that Graham was alright was great.

He looked at her with wide eyes, and then walked over to practically shove a cardboard coffee cup into her hands. “Did you find it?”

Emma slowly shook her head. “Not yet, I’m sorry. But I promise you that we will find your heart, Graham. And when I make a promise, I don’t break it. It may take some time, and I know that it isn’t fair, but…”

Graham sighed. “But I’m going to have to play along with Regina until we find it,” he finished in a soft voice.

“We will find it,” Emma assured him in a firm tone. “I’m not giving up on you.”

Graham offered her a crooked smile, and Emma couldn’t help thinking that he almost seemed like he wanted to kiss her. But Emma was not at a place in her life where she was looking for someone to kiss, and Graham definitely didn’t need the added complications. 

So it was nice when Graham asked her about something else instead. “Can you tell me more about the Enchanted Forest? And who I was there?”

Emma glanced around to make sure there was no one else in the station, and then she gave Graham a soft smile. “To be honest, I don’t know anything other than what I’ve already told you. But if you want, we can call my dad and ask if he knows anything else about you. I’m not sure how much he’d know either, though.”

“Well, it still beats watching old cartoons for research.” Emma laughed, though it faded away when Graham moved even closer to her. “Emma… thank you. I mean it. I thought that I was going crazy, but now I know that… well. Just- thank you. I’m glad that you came to town.”

Of course Emma had to smile at a sweet line like that. “You’re welcome. Now, let’s see what dear old Prince Charming has to say.” As she pulled out her phone, she was glad to see a genuine smile on Graham’s face. She’d been worried that there might never be one of those again. 


	6. 6

Faith stared at the two siblings in disbelief. It’s not as though she’d had any reason to not trust them just because she wasn’t close friends with them, but apparently she should have been a bit more cautious with who she was willing to talk to. She knew that her mom would believe her about not being responsible for committing this crime (their family valued honesty so much that Faith was pretty sure she’d never be able to summon up the courage to actually lie to Emma or David’s faces), but she still wished that she didn’t have to drag her mom into this in the first place.

She waited impatiently for Emma to show up, deliberately refusing to look at Ava and Nicholas. Obviously she didn’t think that kids in a normal, safe situation would be stealing things like toothbrushes and cereal, but that didn’t make it okay for them to try and use Faith to get away with their thievery.

When Emma showed up she took one look at Faith, then immediately walked over to put her arm around Faith’s shoulder. She looked at Mr. Clark with furrowed eyebrows. “What happened?”  
“I’m sorry, Deputy White, but your daughter was shoplifting, along with these two.”

Emma looked down at Faith. “Were you stealing?”

Faith immediately shook her head. “I wouldn’t do that, I swear.”

Emma sighed, but she nodded once, and Faith felt a flare of warmth in her heart at the thought of how much her mother trusted her. “Did you call their parents?” Emma asked Mr. Clark.

He shook his head. “The number they gave me was disconnected.”

It was obvious from the look on Emma’s face that she thought that this was going to turn into a whole Thing™. Emma gave Faith a small half-hug, then stepped away. “You should head home. I think I heard Mary Margaret say something about making chocolate chip cookies. I’m sure she’d appreciate a little assistance.”

Faith narrowed her eyes at the obvious attempt to get rid of her. “I don’t think she needs my help with that.”

“Not even with eating them?”

Alright, that was actually a pretty good point. And besides, Faith trusted that her mom would be able to figure out what was going on, and would be able to figure out a way to make sure that it all ended up being okay. Even if Emma didn’t realize it, that was her real superpower. “Alright, I’m going, I’m going.” She hesitated for a moment, then looked at the siblings who’d tried to frame her for robbery. “Me and Cora like to eat lunch on the back playground and we always end up bringing too much food. Come by during lunch tomorrow, or it’ll just go to waste.” Satisfied that she’d done her part to help out, Faith left and made her way back to the loft. 

,,,

While Faith occupied herself with eating cookies and doing homework, she didn’t expect to hear the front door open just a little over an hour after Faith had gotten home herself. She looked up, and grew confused when she saw Emma walk in with Ava and Nicholas right behind her. 

One of the best parts about growing up in such a small family was the way that she, Emma, and David all were capable of having entire conversations with each other without ever opening their mouths. And not with some magical mind reading or anything, but just because they knew each other so well. 

It meant that Faith could easily see her mom asking her to keep the twins distracted while she talked with Mary Margaret. Faith might not know what the exact situation was, but she did know that her mom only championed those who needed her, so Faith was going to be as helpful as she could be.

So she made a few sandwiches and set them down on the table so that the kids could all eat. “So… how’s it going?”

Ava sighed. “We really are sorry about earlier. It’s just-” she glanced at her brother, and they seemed to have a silent conversation of their own before she turned back to look at Faith. “We thought that since your mom is a cop, you’d get in less trouble than we would, and we were desperate. But it was unfair to risk you taking the blame like that.”

Faith looked at both of them carefully, and decided that the remorse they were showing was genuine. She leaned back in her seat and shrugged one shoulder. “It’s fine. Honestly, it’s probably a good thing that I’m the one you chose, because now you’ve got my mom on the case. Whatever’s going on with you guys, she’ll figure out a way to make it all okay. She always does.”

Obviously neither of them seemed to quite believe it, but that was okay. Faith understood that when someone was going through a really rough time, it could be difficult for them to believe that there was someone who was actually willing to fight for them. But Emma would show them how reliable she was, because she would keep fighting for them until the very end, regardless of whether they were toothpaste thieves or not.

“What is it that you guys need help with now, anyways?”

Ava sighed again. “We’ve been living on our own ever since our mother died. And I suppose you can relate to the part where we have no idea who our father even is.”

Truthfully, Faith knew exactly who her father was, even if she’d never met the man before. Emma had always been reluctant to talk about him, but David had always been willing to share stories of the two years that Emma had dated Faith’s father. It was a complicated situation, but Faith’s dad didn’t even know she existed, so she couldn’t blame him for not being a part of her life.

That seemed like a lot to try and explain to two kids who were basically complete strangers to her, though, so she just awkwardly shrugged. “Well, whatever the best thing for you guys is, my mom is sure to find it.”

Ava gave Faith a dubious look, and then abruptly stood up and started making her way over to where the adults were still talking. Nicholas reached over to tap Faith’s arm so that she would look at him instead. “Don’t mind my sister’s attitude. Even though we’re twins, she always tries to take care of me, and I think it must be utterly exhausting for her. She’s not actually trying to start any trouble, though, I swear.”

“I believe you,” Faith assured him. Then she heard stifled sobs coming from the other side of the room, and she looked over to see Ava standing in front of Emma and Mary Margaret, looking utterly distraught. 

“We’re going to be separated?” Ava asked through her tears.

Emma shook her head immediately. “No. That’s not going to happen.” She said it in the tone of a sacred promise, and Faith knew that it meant her mother would never stop working and looking until they finally encountered some kind of solution. 

Ava either didn’t hear the promise in Emma’s words, or she couldn’t understand. “Please- please don’t let it.” Faith looked back at Nicholas, and saw that his eyes were starting to water as well. Faith didn’t have any siblings herself, but she did have her family, and she couldn’t even imagine being taken away from them forever. So Faith was going to help too, and whatever way she could.

,,,

Emma looked at Graham pleadingly. “I promised I wouldn’t separate them.”

He let out a heavy sigh as he leaned back in his seat. “I hate to agree with Regina about- well, anything, really- but unless you’re planning on taking them in, these kids do need a good home. We can figure out a way to make sure they’re allowed to stay in touch, but otherwise… I don’t see what else we can do.”

“If I can just find their father-”

Graham furrowed his eyebrows. “Why are you so sure that he’d even want them?”

The question made Emma pause for a moment, and then she took a deep breath in. It was hard to open up to people who weren’t family, but for the sake of those kids, she could do it. “Faith’s father doesn’t know about her. It’s a complicated situation, but basically he had to go somewhere and he wanted me to go with him, but I couldn’t. I had to stay here, to come to Storybrooke and break this stupid curse. So he left without me because he couldn’t stay. I didn’t even realize I was pregnant until after he’d already left, and I had no way of getting in touch with him. But I know that if anything ever happened to me and my father, Faith’s dad is the person that I would trust most to take care of her. He just doesn’t know about her. If Nicholas and Ava’s dad is here, in Storybrooke, but he doesn’t know about them, then maybe if he knew…” 

She stared at Graham for what felt like ages, and she saw the exact moment he gave in as he closed his eyes and his shoulders slumped down. “I can buy you a little bit of time, but I don’t know how much.” He hesitated before asking in a softer voice, “Do you know- do you know who they are?”

“Brother and sister, lost, no parents- I’m thinking Hansel and Gretel.”

Graham raised one eyebrow. “Would you or your father happen to have any insight on where their father might be?”

Emma shook her head. “I already asked, but my dad’s never met them before. We only know what we can find in the old stories, but I doubt that they’re very accurate.” She sighed. “Anyways, I have to go. I need to see if there’s any way to find out anything about their dad.”

She turned to go, but stopped when Graham spoke again. “Does Faith know about…?”

Emma glanced back at him. “Yeah. I never saw the point in trying to hide it. Despite his reputation, he isn’t actually a bad person. She’s even got…” Emma trailed off as inspiration struck. “Oh- I’ve got to go. I think I may know how to find this guy!”  
“Good luck!”

,,,

Faith, Ava, and Nicholas were all eating cookies as Emma suddenly dashed into the loft and then ran up the stairs. She came back down a few minutes later with a cardboard box. “I want to show you guys something.” She opened the box, and pulled out a blanket.

Nicholas looked at her in confusion. “What’s that?”

“It’s my baby blanket. It’s something I’ve held onto my whole life. My dad and I are from- from somewhere really far away, and this is the only thing that I have left of that place. Look, I want to find your father, but I need your help. Is there anything you’ve held onto of his?”   
,,,

Faith and Emma walked down the street together, enjoying the slightly chilly air. Of course Emma was thrilled that everything had worked out in the end, and that she’d been right about Michael wanting his kids after learning about them and getting the chance to actually see them. But going home to Mary Margaret right after seeing that reunion wasn’t easy. Her mom was right there in front of her, but Mary Margaret didn’t know who she was supposed to be, and Emma couldn’t tell her.

She put one arm around Faith’s shoulder and tugged her daughter a little bit closer to her side. “Do you ever… I mean… Do you wish that you could meet your father?”

Faith glanced up, clearly a bit surprised by the question, though perhaps she shouldn’t have been, considering everything that had happened today. She thought it over for a few long seconds before answering. “If he came here to find us, then yeah. But I wouldn’t want to meet him if he was just coming to visit, only if he was here to stay. And I wouldn’t run away to find him, or anything. I guess what I’m saying is that I don’t need him, not when I have you and Gramps, but I wouldn’t turn him away if he was here right in front of us.”

They walked in silence for another few minutes before Faith slowed to a stop and cleared her throat. “What you did today, for Ava and Nicholas, I think it means that you’re really changing things around here. I may not be an expert on curses or anything, but it seems like you’re starting to break it down, a little bit at a time.”

Emma had never spoken to her daughter about certain things, but Faith was a perceptive kid. She’d probably been aware of Emma’s insecurities for a while now. Like that Emma was always worried, deep down, that everyone was riding their hopes on her for nothing. That she’d let everyone down when it turned out that she couldn’t break the curse after all. She leaned over so that she could pull Faith into a proper hug, and then straightened back up. “Hey, what do you say we go home now? I could do with a cup of Mary Margaret’s hot chocolate.”

“And after we can call Gramps?”

Emma ruffled up the top of Faith’s hair. “Yeah. I’m sure he’ll be excited to hear all about today’s events.”

They started to head back to the loft, when Faith paused again, and Emma stopped to look at her daughter. “Mom? If my dad knew about me, do you really think he’d- he’d want to stay?”

Emma’s throat suddenly felt thick, and she had to take a moment to compose herself before she could answer. “Yeah, who wouldn’t want to stay for you? You’re the most awesome kid in the world.”

Faith grinned, and threw her arms around Emma’s waist. “I know you’re just saying that because you’re my mom and you have to, but I appreciate it anyways.”

Emma laughed. “Well, as long as you appreciate it.” Then the two of them made their way home, ready to be wrapped in the warmth and the smell of cinnamon. Neither of them were fully used to it just yet, but it somehow still felt like home all the same. 


	7. 7

Emma looked up from her desk when she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. She saw Faith standing in front of her, arms crossed over her chest. It was rare for Faith to come by the sheriff’s station, so Emma couldn’t help feeling concern rush through her. “Hey kid, what are you doing here?”

“Did you hear the news? The playground was destroyed by that storm yesterday. I’ve been there a few times with Cora. It’s not like it’s a top secret place or anything, but all the kids loved it, and now it’s gone.”

Emma got up and walked around her desk so that she could give Faith a hug. “I’m sorry. I can talk to Marco, if you want. He might be able to fix it, or maybe help figure out the logistics for building a new playground somewhere else.”

Faith frowned. “It wouldn’t be the same.”

“I know, kid, but sometimes things just have to change.”

Faith stomped one foot on the floor. “Well it isn’t fair!”

Emma stared at her daughter in surprise, and then hesitantly asked, “Is this really about the playground?”

Several seconds passed in silence before Faith leaned further into Emma’s side. “Mom, what’s going to happen once the curse breaks?”

The question took Emma by surprise. Out of habit, she glanced around to make sure that there was no one else in the station, and then she gently guided Faith over to her desk and pushed her to sit down. Emma crouched down in front of her daughter, and reached out to take one of Faith’s hands. “I don’t think you’ve ever asked that before. Is there a reason you’re asking now?”   


Faith heaved out a long sigh, and slumped back against the seat. “It’s just… I’ve been thinking. What if my friends all realize they don’t want to be friends with me once they figure out that they’re like thirty years older than I am? Or what if whoever Cora’s real parents try to take her back but the evil queen won’t let them? Or what if everyone gets brought back to the Enchanted Forest, but I don’t get to go too because I’m not from there? Or what if-?”

Emma ran her hands up and down Faith’s arms in a soothing manner. “Look, I’m not going to pretend like I can see the future. Even I’m not cool enough for that.” She thought it was a victory when she saw Faith crack a tiny smile. “But no matter what happens, I swear to you that it is something we will all go through together. You, me, and your Gramps, we’re a family, and nothing could ever change that.”

“What about Mary Margaret?”

That was a trickier question, one that Emma had thought about quite a few times on her own. “Once she remembers who she is, I’m sure she’ll be very happy to get to know us all over again from a new perspective. And hey, just because she doesn’t know she’s Snow White doesn’t mean she isn’t part of our family as Mary Margaret, right? She’s the best friend I’ve got in this town, and we all know how much she adores you.” When Faith gave a shallow nod, Emma asked, “What brought all of this up?”

Faith shrugged. “I dunno. It’s just that it feels like we’ve already been here for so long, and I’m starting to get used to everything being the way that it is. It’s scary to think that it’s all going to change soon, isn’t it?”

Emma pulled Faith into another hug. “Yeah, change is scary, but it’s very important that it happens. It’s how we all learn and grow.” She pulled away, and offered a wry smile. “But the curse isn’t going to be broken tonight, so I do hope that you’re ready.”

The grin that Faith gave her in return was nearly identical to the ones that Faith’s father had always flashed around. “I know you said your costume is supposed to be a secret, but can’t you at least give me a little hint about what you want to be?”

Faith shook her head quickly enough to make her two braids whip back and forth. “Nope! You’ll find out at the grand reveal just like everyone else.” She hopped off of the chair, and then paused. “Have you noticed that no one else has been talking about Halloween around here? I mean, it’s only the greatest holiday in the universe! What is wrong with this town? Er, don’t answer that, actually. Oh- and don’t you dare ask Mary Margaret about what my costume is, just because you know that she’s been helping me work on it. A secret is a secret for a reason!”

Emma probably would have agreed to pretty much anything in that moment, as grateful as she was to see Faith’s usual smile back in place. That girl was far too young to be worrying about half the things she did, and Emma was always pleased when she saw her daughter take the opportunity to act like a normal kid. “I promise I won’t try to figure out your costume in advance. But for all this buildup, it better be a grand reveal.”

Faith nodded earnestly. “Oh, it will be. I’m sure you’ll love it!”  
“I’m sure I will,” Emma agreed. She reached out to ruffle the top of Faith’s hair, tugging some loose strands free from the braids. “Do you need a ride home? There’s nothing particularly exciting going on here at the moment, so I’m sure I could get away with a little break.”

Faith looked around the station, and seemed to realize for the first time that it was empty of everyone except the two of them. “Where’s Graham?”

They still hadn’t figured out how to get his stolen heart back yet, which meant that he still needed to play along with whatever Regina asked of him. It was unfair to him, and uncomfortable to think about, but Emma couldn’t be upset with anyone but Regina about the situation. “He’s doing a favor for the mayor right now. But I’ve got my phone on me, so if there’s any emergencies, I can still be reached. So what do you say? Want a ride?”

Faith nodded. “Sure. Just don’t come into the loft with me, because I may have left a bit of a mess lying around, and I don’t want you figuring out too soon what my costume is.”

“Once you’re all dressed up for the night, we’ll have to send a few pictures to your Gramps. You know how much he loves Halloween.”

Faith tilted her head curiously as she followed Emma out of the building and into the parking lot. “Isn’t it strange that he likes Halloween so much when it doesn’t even exist in the Enchanted Forest? I mean, I know that you grew up here surrounded by all the normal traditions of this world, but he was already a grown adult when he came here.”

Emma shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know, I guess I never really thought about it before. There’s just something a bit magical about Halloween, don’t you think? The way that you can be anyone you want to be for the night?”

“Did you guys ever have to deal with trick-or-treaters who were dressed up like Snow White and Prince Charming? Or anyone else that Gramps knew?”

Emma laughed as she thought back to the first time she could remember being brought out trick-or-treating, and how shocked David had been to see the many familiar costumes worn by the other children. “Oh, he was not prepared at all for that. He loves the costumes now, but that’s probably because he just loves talking about how amazing yours always come out.”

“Well, I always have help,” Faith pointed out, though the tips of her ears did turn slightly pink from the compliment. 

They made it back home in one piece, and Emma waited patiently to see Faith walk into the building before she turned and headed back to the station. It was still pretty early out, but Emma was prepared to be called out for quite a few incidents tonight. It was Halloween, afterall. And even if nobody had really mentioned the holiday around town, surely the evening would still follow the expected script of parties and rowdy teenagers and candy everywhere.

,,,

When it was six o’clock and Emma hadn’t gotten a single call yet, she found that she was somewhat disappointed. Not for herself, of course, because she didn’t want to have to deal with petty crimes and vandalous youths, but for Faith, who had been looking forward to this holiday for a while. Emma liked Halloween well enough, but she’d never been nearly as attached to it as her daughter or father. Maybe it was just the kind of appreciation that skipped generations.

After double checking that she had her phone connected to the emergency line in case anything did come up, Emma headed out once Graham had returned to the station. He seemed to be in a miserable mood, and no amount of candy had been able to cheer him up, so he’d ended up just telling her to go home for the night and leave him to stew in peace. Emma felt like a shitty friend for listening to him, but she also wanted to be a good mother who could take her daughter out trick-or-treating, so she ended up taking Graham up on that.

When Emma got back to the loft, she opened the door and peered in slowly to make sure the coast was clear. She spotted Mary Margaret standing at the counter, carefully icing a tray of cookies. There was no Faith in sight, so Emma walked inside and closed the door behind her loudly enough to announce her presence.

She walked over to the counter to peer down at Mary Margaret’s cookies. They were cut out in various adorable shapes, like ghosts, cats, pumpkins, and bats. “Aw, those are so cute. There’s so many of them, though. I hope you don’t expect me to eat all those, because as much as I love your baking, even I have at least some semblance of self-control.”

Mary Margaret laughed as she set down the icing bag she’d been holding. “Feel free to have some, but I didn’t make them for you. The school is holding a little get together for all the teachers tonight, so I figured I’d just make a big batch, and leave some to give out to the kids who come by, and bring some to the party.”

“You know, I’m kind of surprised that I didn’t see any costumed kids out there on my way home. It’s already basically dark out.”

Mary Margaret had a thoughtful look on her face before she answered. “I suppose this has never been the most popular holiday in Storybrooke. There aren’t that many kids here, overall, so that’s probably why. You should be relieved, though, to not have to deal with all the hooligans of the city.”

“As if you’d ever be able to convince me that there are no hooligans around Storybrooke, no matter how small this town might be.”

Before they could continue their conversation, there was the sound of someone very loudly clearing their throat from above them, and Emma and Mary Margaret both looked up at the top of the stairs. Faith was cloaked in a bedsheet to hide whatever she was wearing underneath, and it dramatically trailed along the stairs behind her as she made her way down. “Drum roll, please!”

Emma and Mary Margaret exchanged an amused look, but they both obliged and started tapping loudly against the counter until Faith finally flung back the sheet to reveal her costume. Emma’s jaw practically dropped when she saw it. “A pirate? Seriously? Do I even want to know where you got the idea from?”

Faith grinned mischievously. “I was watching  _ Peter Pan _ recently, and I was enthralled.”

Even Emma had never watched that movie, though that was more of a personal choice than anything, mostly based on not wanting to see how all the characters in it might be depicted. That didn’t mean she’d never heard of the movie, though. “Isn’t that one like super racist or something?”

Mary Margaret shook her head. “It wasn’t the old cartoon one, it was a newer live action one. I’ll admit, I was a bit surprised by how enthusiastic she was to dress up as Captain Hook.” 

Faith raised one arm to show off the plastic hook that was being held in one hand. “Tada! What do you think? Is it accurate?”

Of course Mary Margaret wasn’t aware of it, but Emma knew that Faith wasn’t asking if she looked accurate to the movie character. “Well you certainly do look like a little menace.” Faith grinned, and skipped over to the door. “You can take the pictures later, I need to head out now if I don’t want to be late.”

Emma raised one eyebrow. “Late for what? And am I not going with you?”

Faith rolled her eyes. “No offense, Mom, but I’m a little old to have my mom take me out. I’m going with Cora, and we’ll stay within each other’s sight at all times, I promise.” She gave Emma a quick hug, then grabbed an empty pillow case that had been resting over the back of the couch, and hurried out the front door.

There was a soft click as the door shut behind the girl, and then Emma turned back to look at Mary Margaret in bemusement. “I was warned that my kid would outgrow me someday, but I never realized that it would be so soon.”  
Mary Margaret chuckled as she put the last finishing touches on her cookies. “As if she’d ever actually outgrow you. Anyone with eyes can see what a perfect family you are.” She pushed one of the cookie trays towards Emma. “These are for any kids that come knocking. Just give them one each, unless they ask really nicely for a second one.”

“I’m pretty sure that responsible parents advise their kids not to accept open food from strangers.”

Mary Margaret snorted. “As if anyone is a stranger in Storybrooke. You’re the closest we’ve got to one of those, and you’re the Sheriff’s deputy. Now I’m just going to pack up the rest of these, and then I’m going to get going as well. Have a good night, and make sure you tell me about all the adorable costumes.”

A few minutes later she was alone in the loft, and Emma flopped down onto the couch. She found herself feeling strangely nostalgic, and ended up flipping to one of the channels that played crappy horror movies from the eighties. 

By the time Faith and Mary Margaret got home, all of the cookies were gone (though Emma refused to clarify whether they’d been mostly handed out or mostly munched on by her). It wasn’t the kind of Halloween Emma had experienced in previous years, but as she and Faith video-chatted with David (and Emma kept stealing candy from Faith’s massive pile whenever she thought she could get away with it), Emma found that it was an enjoyable night all the same. 


	8. 8

Emma walked into Granny’s, and hurried over to the table where she spotted Mary Margaret sitting. She slid into the seat across from Mary Margaret, and gave her friend an expectant look. “So what’s this about? You called me here to talk about something important, right?” When Mary Margaret didn’t answer immediately, Emma tilted her head to the side. “If it’s something private, maybe it would be better to talk at home?”

Mary Margaret wrung her hands together, then slowly shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t want- wouldn’t want Faith overhearing any of this. I’m her teacher, and there are at least some standards that I should try to keep to around here, even if we are living together. The thing is…”

She trailed off, but didn’t pick up the trail again, leaving Emma to prompt her. “The thing is?”

Mary Margaret let out a deep sigh. “It’s about- about Dr. Whale.”

“Dr. Whale?” There was a sinking feeling in Emma’s stomach as she thought about the few reasons that Mary Margaret might want to talk about Dr. Whale. None of the scenarios that came to mind were ones that Emma wanted to consider. She knew that it was unfair of her to hold Mary Margaret to the standard of being a married woman when she didn’t even know she was married, but she couldn’t help it. This was her mother they were talking about. Of course she didn’t want to hear about her relationship with someone other than her father.

But Emma was determined to be a supportive friend, so she patiently waited for Mary Margaret to figure out the right words. “Remember how I told you about that one night stand I had with Dr. Whale?”  Emma nodded. “And how I called him the next morning?” Emma nodded again, doing her best not to look like she was about to be sick solely because of the conversation topic. “Well it turns out that it was a little bit more than just a one night stand.” Mary Margaret’s voice was barely above a hushed whisper at this point. “Not that we have any feelings for each other, I mean, we’re barely even friends, since he’s usually a bit of a dick, and I know he doesn’t like me like that either, but we just…” she trailed off, and slumped back in her seat. “Sometimes things just kinda happen, you know?”   


Considering the fact that the only real relationship Emma had ever been in had actually been a pretty serious one, she didn’t really know how things could ‘just kinda happen’, but she didn’t say that, because she didn’t want to make Mary Margaret feel bad. “So, how often have you guys hooked up?”

Mary Margaret shrugged as she looked down at her hands. “I haven’t exactly- I mean it’s not like I keep track. It’s just… I don’t know. I don’t know what to do now.”

Emma took a deep breath in, then slowly let it out. “What do you mean? What do you want to do? End it with him? Keep- keep going?”

Mary Margaret glanced around to make sure that no one else in the diner was listening in on their conversation, and then she looked back at Emma, though there was no direct eye contact between them. “I just want to feel loved, and that’s not something that I’ll ever be able to get with him.”

Emma reached over the table to put her hand on top of Mary Margaret’s. “I know it can be hard to feel lonely. But romance isn’t the only kind of love in the world. Believe me, I can guarantee that you are loved. You’ve got me and Faith, and a gaggle of students who think the world of you. Maybe it’s not quite what you’re looking for, but you don’t have to be alone while you wait for the love you want.”

Every muscle in Mary Margaret’s body seemed to relax at once, and she gave Emma a small smile. “You’re right. Thank you, Emma. You’re a good friend. I think that I’m going to talk to him this week, and make sure we’re both on the same page.”

With the serious stuff out of the way, Emma couldn’t help asking, “What’s that guy’s first name, anyways?”

For some reason, the question made Mary Margaret’s cheeks immediately go bright red. “I, uh, I don’t know. I guess I never asked?”

Emma blinked once. “Then what do you…? You know what, nevermind. I’m pretty sure that I don’t want to know.” Both women started giggling at that, and by the time they’d calmed down, both of them felt much lighter inside. Both of them got up so that they could each head out to their jobs, but Emma paused to add, “Hey, if you need to talk about any of this later, it should be safe to talk at home. Faith’s going to be out with some friends today, and she said not to expect her back until late.”

Mary Margaret nodded. “Thanks, Emma.” She gave a friendly smile, and then the two women parted ways, both of them grateful to have the other as a friend.

,,,

Regina looked up from her paperwork when she heard her office door swing open. She knew that it would be her daughter, because she always swung by the office after school, even if it was just for a brief ‘hello’. Cora bounded into the room with more of a spring in her step than usual, and Regina watched in content bemusement. Of course she was pleased to see her daughter looking so chipper, she just wasn’t sure what the cause of it was. “Hey Mom! Just wanted to see you before I go swimming with Faith.”

Regina frowned as she glanced towards the window, as if the chilly autumn air would magically have turned into a hot summer day. Then she looked back at Cora. “It’s a bit cold out to be swimming, isn’t it?”

Cora snorted and rolled her eyes at the same time. “Not at the beach, obviously. We’re not idiots. Faith has a friend with an indoor pool, and he invited her over and said that she could bring as many friends as she wanted, so it’s actually going to be a bunch of us going, but Faith’s the only one that I really know.”

Regina frowned deeper and deeper the longer Cora spoke. The only person in Storybrooke with an indoor pool that she knew of was Jefferson, but why the hell would he be inviting a bunch of children over to his house? Then her brows smoothed out as she figured it out. If this Faith girl was allowed to bring as many friends as she wanted, then there was a chance that she’d also bring Grace, and it would give him a sneaky chance to get a closer look at his daughter.

Still, something about this whole scenario felt quite odd to Regina. Why would he come up with this plan now when the past thirty years had been spent with him content to merely watch from a distance? And why would he ask Faith specifically? Because she was still fairly new to town, or for some other reason?

Whatever it was that Jefferson had planned, Regina refused to let herself or her family have any part of it. She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “What friend? You know that I don’t want you to go over friends’ houses without me having met their parents first.”

Cora sighed, and it looked like she already regretted saying anything. “Mom, it’s fine. You’ve met Faith’s mom, right? And there’s going to be a bunch of us there, nearly the entire class, so it’s not like there’s going to be anything weird going on.”

Regina shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I still don’t like it. Faith’s mother might allow her to wander into any potentially dangerous situation, but I will not do the same. I’m your mother, and it’s my job to protect you. Why don’t you spend the afternoon here and do your homework, and then we can get dinner once I’m done here?”

It was pretty obvious that Cora did not want to do that at all, but she also was a good kid who knew better than to argue with her mother. So she let out a reluctant sigh, and dropped her backpack down onto the little couch. “Can I at least call Faith to let her know I won’t be going so that she doesn’t get worried about me?”   


Regina held out her cell phone, and watched Cora eagerly grab it and then slip out into the hallway. Regina waited patiently for Cora to finish her phone call, generously not commenting on the fact that the conversation went on much longer than necessary, and then both of them settled down to take care of their respective responsibilities. 

,,,

Faith snapped shut her phone (a cheap one her mom had given her before they’d come to Storybrooke, meant to be used in case of emergencies), and shoved it into her pocket. She had to admit that she was a little disappointed that Cora wouldn’t be joining the rest of them. But she also understood that with Cora’s mom being the evil queen, it was probably too dangerous to try and fight her about something as petty as hanging out with friends.

With that disappointment in mind, Faith looked at the rest of the school kids that had met up with her. “Looks like everyone’s here who’s actually coming. Come on, guys.” They walked down the street to the nearest bus stop, and then rode the bus pretty far away from the center of town before they got off and walked the rest of the way to their destination.

Everyone let out surprised gasps when they saw just how massive the house they were headed towards was. It looked more like a mansion than a regular house, though it only made them all more excited to see the indoor pool that Faith had advertised to them. Obviously it was too cold out to wear bathing suits outside, but everyone had bags with bathing suits, towels, and changes of clothes. 

Even though they were all eager to get the chance to go swimming despite the cold weather outside, all of them hesitated a bit when they reached the big front doors. Faith let out an annoyed huff, then pushed her way to the front of the group so that she could ring the doorbell.

While they waited for someone to answer the door, Faith wondered if coming here had been a mistake. She wasn’t actually sure who lived here, in terms of fairy tale selves or Storybrooke selves. She just knew that the invitation she’d received in the mail had seemed too good to be true. Of course, she hadn’t told her mom that she had no idea whose house she was actually going to, but Faith had figured that being with a whole group of other kids would make it all okay.

Then the door finally swung open, revealing a man who looked to be around the same age as Emma. He wore a scarf around his neck, but part of it had dipped away to reveal a faded scar on his neck. His clothes looked to be more on the expensive side, but more importantly, his smile looked to be decently friendly without seeming predatory.

Faith offered up one of her winning smiles to him. If this turned out to be a giant mistake, then she did know enough to be able to defend herself, so she wasn’t really all too worried. “Mr. Jefferson? Are we on time?”

He blinked once, then nodded. “Yes, yes, of course. Please, come in. I’ll show you right to the pool.” He led them through the house, though thankfully not down into the basement, and they ended up in a massive room with a large wall made of just windows, and a giant pool that looked quite inviting. Then she showed them to the nearby bathrooms so that they could all change in some privacy.

While the other kids talked and laughed and got ready for some fun time together, Faith couldn’t take her eyes off of Jefferson. Surely there had to be something strange about a man who would invite a bunch of children over to his house, when there didn’t seem to be any signs of other children living here. Maybe he was just lonely, but Faith wasn’t sure. It might help if she knew who he was back in the Enchanted Forest, but obviously she couldn’t just ask him such a thing.

But after bringing some refreshments in to the pool room (and eating some right in front of them, which worked to assure Faith that the food wasn’t drugged or poisoned), he told them to have fun, and then disappeared for the next several hours.

As it got later out, the kids all reluctantly dried off and got dressed to go home. The warm water had been so pleasant compared to the crisp fall air outside, and they had all had fun hanging out as such a large group, since that wasn’t something that usually happened.

While the rest of them were distracted with getting ready to go, Faith slipped out of the pool room and started wandering around, eager to figure out the mystery of who this man was. Even outside of his real self, she wanted to know why he had invited a bunch of kids to his house and then just left them all alone the whole time.

As she explored, she happened to poke her head into a room full of hats, and she furrowed her eyebrows pensively. None of the other rooms had drawn her attention the way this one had, and she was quite curious to get a closer look. She inspected the hats, and found that they must have all been made with the same basic pattern, though they had very different designs and fabrics. 

She reached out to pick up one of the hats, but a sudden voice from behind startled her into turning around. “Did you get lost?”

Faith just stared at him for a moment, then gave him an apologetic look. It was one that had worked wonders at getting her out of trouble with her Gramps more times than she could count. “Yeah, I guess this place is just way too big. Sorry about that, but if you just point me to the front doors, I’ll be heading out.”

Jefferson remained motionless in the doorway, and Faith tried to glance around the room out of the corners of her eyes to see if there were any other exits that were immediately obvious. “You’re Emma White’s daughter, aren’t you?”

Faith blinked as she focused back on Jefferson. She knew better than to directly answer the question, even though he probably wouldn’t even be asking if he didn’t already know the answer. “Why?”

“I need her help with something.”

Faith frowned. “Oh, well I’m sure she’d be willing to help. She’s pretty cool like that.”

Jefferson took a small step forward, and it felt like Faith could feel all the hairs on the back of her neck rise up. “Yes, I’m sure she will be happy to help me.” Then he moved closer and reached out to grab at Faith. She really had no choice left but to make a run for it. 


	9. 9

Emma sighed as she got home later than she’d planned. Graham had asked her to pull another night shift last minute, and since Emma was the one who had encouraged him to keep acting normal around Regina, she found that she couldn’t really deny his request. Which is why she found herself coming home just a couple of hours before Mary Margaret normally got up to get ready for school (which for some bizarre reason was the same time that she woke up on weekends). Emma was exhausted and she just wanted to stumble into bed.

As she made her way through the dark loft, she stopped at Faith’s bed so that she could just check on her daughter before conking out herself. Even in the dark, though, Emma could clearly see that her bed was empty. She pulled out her phone to see if she’d missed any calls or texts that could explain her daughter’s absence, but there was nothing of the sort there.

Knowing Faith as well as she did, Emma reminded herself not to panic. Her daughter had probably just lost track of time and decided to sleep over at her friend’s place for the night, since it had been a Friday night, and therefore there was no responsibility of school the next day to worry about. 

She tried to call Faith, but there was no answer. It still wasn’t time to panic, though, because Faith knew that the phone was for emergencies only, so half the time she just left it somewhere buried in the bottom of her backpack and not on her person.

Emma forced herself to take several deep breaths, and stay calm. She couldn’t go to bed before she knew for sure where her daughter was, but she would also feel bad waking Mary Marget up so early in the morning. After pacing back and forth for a few minutes, though, Emma decided that Mary Margaret would forgive her for this when it was about making sure that Faith was alright.

So Emma went to Mary Margaret’s bed and gently shook the other woman awake. It took a little while for Mary Margaret to actually get up, and when she did, she squinted at Emma to try and make her out better in the dark. “Emma? What time is it?”

“Do you know where Faith is?”

Mary Margaret frowned, and reached up to rub at her eyes. “What? Didn’t you say that she was going over a friend’s house?”

“Yeah, but she was supposed to come home after. I was just wondering if maybe she called you to tell you she was staying the night or something.”

Mary Margaret shook her head, already looking more alert than she had a minute ago. “I haven’t seen her since school yesterday. Which friend’s house did she go to?”

Emma sighed. “A kid named Sarah, from your class.”

Mary Margaret’s frown deepened, which only put Emma more on edge. “Emma…” she bit her lip and looked down at the floor for a few seconds before looking back up at Emma. “There is no one named Sarah in my class.” Both women just sat there on the edge of the bed as they tried to figure out what this meant. Clearly Faith had lied about where she was going, but why would she do that unless she knew that it was somewhere Emma wouldn’t approve of? Before Emma could get too lost in her thoughts, Mary Margaret spoke again. “You should try talking to Cora Mills. Not right this second, obviously, since I think the mayor might kill someone who disturbs her so early, but as soon as it’s an acceptable time. Even if she made up a story for you, her best friend might know the truth.”

That made sense, so Emma nodded in agreement, but she couldn’t stop the feeling of worry that was twisting up in her stomach. She and David had always raised Faith to be as honest as possible, at least with family, so what could be so bad that Faith didn’t think she could talk to her mother about it?

,,,

As soon as it was late enough to justify a visit, Emma drove to the mayor’s house. She had to take a few deep breaths to stop her from just pounding on the front door like a crazy person, and instead calmly knocked. The door swung open, revealing a confused looking Regina. “Deputy White, how can I help you?”

Emma shifted her weight on her feet. “Is your daughter home? I was hoping that she might know where mine is.”

The look on Regina’s face was definitely quite judgemental. “Is it really so difficult for you to keep track of your own child?” Then she continued on without giving Emma a chance to explain anything. “Come in, I’ll put on some coffee while I go speak with Cora.”

“Thank you,” Emma said with obvious relief, though she still felt wary walking right into the metaphorical dragon’s den. No matter what role she was playing, Regina was still the evil queen, and probably always would be.

She nursed a mug of coffee without actually drinking from it, until Regina eventually returned to the living room. “I’m afraid that we can’t help you today. The last time Cora saw Faith was when they parted ways after school yesterday.”

Something that Emma had always prided herself on was her ability to see when people were lying. Regina was admittedly more talented at it than most, but even still, Emma found herself feeling somewhat suspicious. Still, there was nothing she could do. It’s not as though she could just barge past Regina and storm into Cora’s room for an interrogation. 

So she murmured her thanks, and then went on her way. Emma gave Graham a quick call to let him know the situation so that he could keep an eye out while at the station today, and then she took off to begin her search.

The first thing that came to mind was that Faith may have decided to leave Storybrooke so that she could meet up with David, though a quick call with him confirmed that he hadn’t seen her. “What’s going on, Emma? Do you need me to come and help?”

Despite the circumstances, Emma couldn’t help smiling a little when she heard her dad’s questions. She was lucky to have someone like him in her life. “No, it’s alright. It’s not worth potentially tipping Regina off about your identity. If I still haven’t found Faith by the end of the day, though, we might have to revisit the idea.”

Just because Faith hadn’t made it to David didn’t mean she hadn’t attempted to go see him. So Emma drove to the woods near the border of the town to start her investigation. Unfortunately, even as it got later into the day, the persistent fog that had been around all night didn’t dissipate at all, and Emma had to abruptly swerve out of the way when she realized that there was a man standing on the road right in front of her.

,,,

Emma rolled off the couch and onto the drugged tea cup, smashing it and cutting herself free. Then she immediately moved to the nearest windows to make her escape, but found that they were all locked. She looked around for something to smash them with, since they seemed too thick for just an elbow to break through, but she heard noise coming from nearby. 

She moved slowly and carefully, not wanting to alert her captor to the fact that she was awake and free, and peered into the room right across the hall. She saw Jefferson standing there, sharpening a pair of big shears that looked like they were meant for cutting fabric.

Hoping that he would stay distracted by whatever he was working on, Emma made her way down the hallway, figuring that there had to be an easier exit somewhere. Or at least a place she could smash a window without having to leap from a second story to escape.

When she stepped on a creaky floorboard, Emma immediately ducked into the nearest room and closed the door behind her. She heard muffled noises, and turned around to see Faith gagged and tied to a chair. Emma’s eyes widened in alarm, and she immediately rushed over to untie her daughter. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I was just here to go swimming, honest, I didn’t know he was going to turn out to be a crazy person!” Faith sniffled, and then as soon as she was untied, she surged forward into Emma’s arms. “How did you find me here?”  
Emma was quick to return the hug. “I’d say it was just a bizarre coincidence, but I somehow find that difficult to believe.” Then she stood up straight, though she did decide to hold on tightly to one of Faith’s hands, even though it would be easier to move around if they both had both of their arms free. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

They went to the door of the room, but as soon as they opened it, Emma found herself staring right into the barrel of a gun that Jefferson was holding. “I take it that this is a happy reunion? You should feel grateful. Not everyone gets those.”

Emma took a small step back, prompting Faith to move back as well. “I’ve already called for backup. They’ll be here any second.”

Jefferson rolled his eyes. “You haven’t called anybody. I took your phone while you were taking a nap. Now tie her back up before someone gets hurt.” When Emma had realized she didn’t have her phone on her when she’d woken up, she’d really hoped that it had just been left behind in her car. 

Emma nearly had a heart attack when Faith suddenly let go of her hand and stepped up next to Emma. “You don’t have to do this. My mom will help you if you just ask.”

Emma quickly ushered Faith behind her again, then looked up at Jefferson. “Help? What do you need my help with?”  
“Tie the kid up, and I’ll show you.”

Faith shook her head. “No way am I getting tied up again! I already have rope burn all over my wrists, and that gag tastes like sweat.” Then Faith tugged lightly on the back of Emma’s shirt, and spoke in a soft whisper. “Mom, he had a room full of hats.”

Immediately, Emma’s mind went spinning through the possibilities of what could be going on. She tried to think of fairy tales that hadn’t been told to her by David, things that could be true and real even if her dad had never known about them. Then she landed on the only possibility that really made sense. “The mad hatter,” she mouthed to herself.

Jefferson, who’d been keeping his eyes trained on Emma in an almost hawk-like manner, reacted immediately with a surprised gasp. “You… know?”

Now Emma was the one who was surprised? “You know?”  
“I’ve spent the last twenty-eight years stuck in this house. Day after day, always the same. Until one night, you roll into town and the clock ticks and things start to change. You’re the one who brought magic to Storybrooke.”

Emma stared at Jefferson like he was a puzzle to figure out. “But how do you know any of that? The curse-”

“was meant as a punishment. That can mean different things to different people.”

Emma gulped. “So what do you want? For me to break the curse? Because I swear I’m already working on it, trying to figure out what I need to do.”

Jefferson shook his head. “I just need you to get it to work.” This time he didn’t repeat his demand for Faith to be tied up again, and instead just led the two of them into a room full of hats. He pushed on Emma’s shoulders to get her to sit down at a table with various bits of sewing supplies laid out on it. “You’re the only one that can do this. And if you can’t fix it, then you’re the one who’s going to learn what it feels like to lose your daughter.”

Even though the situation was still dangerous, and Emma was beyond pissed that her daughter had been tied up and now had a gun pointed at her, she couldn’t help softening towards Jefferson. If he had a daughter in the Enchanted Forest but not here in the curse world, then, well. She couldn’t even imagine what he’d been going through for the past couple of decades. 

So she spoke in a calm, gentle voice, instead of just snapping at the unstable man. “Jefferson, no matter what I do, I don’t think that I’ll be able to make this work. Whatever magic I might have is only meant for breaking the curse, and right now, Storybrooke has no magic in it for anyone to draw from. I’m sorry, but I don’t think that I can help you.”

“No, you have to fix it. It has to work! If it doesn’t, I’m never going home. I’ll be cursed to live in this house forever.”

Emma shook her head. “Not forever. I swear to you that I am doing everything in power to break the queen’s curse as soon as possible. You’ve waited for twenty-eight years, and I can’t even imagine being separated from my kid for that long. But you won’t have to wait for much longer, I promise.”

While Jefferson was busy focusing on Emma, Faith suddenly rushed forward and snatched the gun right out of Jefferson’s slack grip. “We’ll help you, but you’re not allowed to wave around weapons at people and threaten them.” Emma quickly took the gun away from Faith, but that didn’t deter the girl. “If you want our help, then you can’t hurt anyone else. You have to promise that you won’t.”

Jefferson looked back and forth between the two of them, and then his shoulders slumped down in defeat, and he sank down into the chair at the sewing table. “I just want this all to be over,” he muttered. “I can’t keep living like this.”

“We’re going to break the curse,” Emma assured him. “You have my word.” She really wanted to punch him still, for tying Faith up, threatening her, scaring her. But it felt too much like hitting a man while he was down, and Emma decided that it would be the first thing she’d do after the curse broke. For now, though, she grabbed Faith, picking her up even though she was too old to be carried, and walked outside to get into the car. Jefferson did nothing to try and chase after them or stop them, and to Emma, that said more than words ever could.


	10. 10

Emma gave Graham a hug when he walked into the station, and when he gave her a bemused look, she just shrugged. “I’m sorry that we still haven’t been able to figure out how to get back your heart, and I just wanted you to know that I appreciate everything you’ve done in the meanwhile.”

Graham raised one eyebrow. “I’m starting to get the feeling that you want to ask me for a favor. So? Out with it.”

Emma laughed before clearing her throat once. “My dad wanted to come to town today to visit Faith.” It had almost been strange how weirdly insistent he’d been about it, since they both knew it would be much safer to just bring Faith out of town to him, but Emma knew that David would never do anything to intentionally harm their family, so she trusted that he knew what he was doing. “Even though she probably wouldn’t recognize him because he’s much older than she’d remember, on the off chance that she might, it’s imperative that Regina doesn’t get the chance to see him.”

Graham took a few seconds to think before he responded. “Coming to me for a favor and you didn’t even bring donuts,” he grumbled. Then his voice took on a more serious tone. “I can keep Regina distracted. Faith should get the chance to see her grandfather. Though I’m sure he’s got his own reasons for wanting to actually come into town.”

“I already told him that it wouldn’t be a good idea for him to see Mary Margaret. I don’t even want to know how awkward it would be if he started flirting with her after being introduced. It’s not that I think he’d intentionally do anything to make anyone suspicious, but from everything I’ve heard about those two, I’m not sure that he’ll have any choice but to get all wrapped up in her the moment he sees her. But it would just be false hope, since she’s still just Mary Margaret, not his wife that he’s been missing.”

Graham nodded. “I can only imagine. Anyways, I’ll be too busy with Regina today, apparently, but tell David that I’ll be waiting to meet him once this curse is finally broken.”

They chatted for a few more minutes about work related things, and then Emma took off, thanking Graham once more on her way out. She felt guilty for using Graham as the distraction guy, but she also knew that until she could find his heart and figure out how to put it back in him, they had to make sure Regina had no idea that Graham wasn’t her man anymore. And since Regina didn’t seem to care about anyone other than Cora and Graham, and Emma wasn’t going to drag an innocent kid into this, that only left Graham.

Emma got into her car, where Faith was already waiting in the passenger seat. “So we’re going to go get Gramps now?”   
  
“Yup.” They were going to pick him up right at the edge of town, so that there was less risk of anyone spotting an unfamiliar truck and wondering who the driver was. 

The drive was pretty uneventful, mostly consisting of Faith chattering on about whatever popped into her head, while Emma nodded along and tried not to worry too much about everything that was going on. “-and then me and my girlfriend started making out for like, an hour.”

“What?” Emma glanced up sharply at that, and then had to look back at the road. "You're only ten, you shouldn't be making out with anyone."  


Faith giggled loudly. “So now you’re paying attention to me.”

Emma sighed, and reached over with one hand to ruffle up Faith’s hair. “Sorry, kid. There’s just a lot on my mind lately. Maybe I should have made a list of everything I want to talk to your Gramps about so that I wouldn’t have to try and remember it all.”

Faith gently swatted away Emma’s hand, then pulled down the sunvisor in front of her so that she could look in the little mirror and carefully fix her hair. “You know if you need help with anything, you can just ask me, right Mom?”

At that question, Emma couldn’t help but think that she had the best child in the entire world. “Thanks, kid. I’ll be sure to let you know if something comes up that falls under your areas of expertise.” 

Faith rolled her eyes and hmm-ed under her breath, like she was the one humoring Emma, and then they spent the next few minutes in silence. When they finally pulled up to the border of the town, where supposedly no one else was capable of going past, Emma pulled over, and then got out of the car. Faith unbuckled her seatbelt, then hesitated. “Maybe I should stay here.” When Emma gave her a questioning look, Faith shrugged one shoulder. “Considering the curse and everything, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some kind of magic that tries to stop people from entering town. I wouldn’t want to cause any problems if your hero magic is only enough to bring one person at a time in with you.”

Even though Emma hadn’t actually seen any indications that the town was actively trying to keep people out, she knew that Faith was probably right. Otherwise there would be more outsiders around here, or there would have been news stories at some point about the town where the residents never aged. “Good thinking, kid. See, this is exactly why I need you on my side.” Faith grinned, glad to be of help.

As she walked closer to the border, Emma looked around to try and find her dad, but she didn’t see him anywhere. She pulled out her phone to call him, and he answered immediately. “Emma?”

“Dad, we’re here. Where are you?”

A moment later, David emerged from between a few trees and looked around, squinting as he did. “Where are you, exactly?”

So there really was something stopping people from coming in. Faith really was a very smart kid. Emma took a step forward, and even though she didn’t feel any different for being on this side of it, she could see the moment that David spotted her, because he jammed his phone into his pocket and then hurried forward to pull her into a hug. Emma was eager to meet him halfway, having missed the feeling of being hugged by her father.

Once they’d both sufficiently seen that the other was okay, Emma took David’s hand and led him a few steps back until they crossed over the town line. David looked around in amazement as he took it all in. “I knew it would be here, but it’s so different to actually see it for myself. This is so close to where we came out originally. Did I ever show you the tree that we landed in?”

Emma shook her head, curiosity piqued. David had always told her all kinds of stories about the Enchanted Forest, but the one thing he conspicuously seemed to avoid talking about was the day he had brought Emma to this world. She knew that it had been done with a magic wardrobe commissioned by the Blue Fairy, but that was about all that she knew. Of course, she’d assumed that it had to have been somewhere nearish to where they’d settled down, but she hadn’t realized that it was somewhere so close to Storybrooke. It made her wonder if there was something about this area that drew magic towards it, or if it was just a coincidence.

Now wasn’t the time for those kinds of big questions, though, so Emma just walked back over to her car, and watched as Faith hopped out and practically flung herself at her grandfather. Despite his age, David easily caught her and swung her around a few times before gently placing her back down on her feet. He was definitely much more agile than the majority of other people in his age group. It was either all the swordplay that he still kept up with, or the constant calisthenics.

After several more hugs had been passed around between them, they all piled back into Emma’s car and headed through the town. Even though it was a Saturday, Mary Margaret was spending the day with Ashley and Ruby, something that Emma had been invited to but had declined. 

David looked around the loft, and then settled on the couch when Emma directed him to it. She poured out some coffee for her and David, and hot chocolate for Faith, and then the three of them sat around and sipped politely and just stared at each other for a minute.

Finally, David was the one to break the silence when he cleared his throat. “This is a nice place, but it seems a little small for three people, doesn’t it?”   
  
Emma shrugged. “There isn’t a ton of privacy, but we’ve got the curtains around our beds. Certain agreements have already been reached about, erm, company.”

S he expected David to laugh at that, or maybe gently chide her for even insinuating anything while Faith was sitting right there, but instead, David just frowned, and leaned forward. He looked at Faith carefully, and then brought his attention to Emma. “I love you both very much, and have missed both of you the entire time you’ve been here, but I think we all know that I would have stuck to phone calls and video chats if I didn’t think that this was important enough that it had to be spoken about in person.”

Emma frowned, and it felt like her stomach was twisting up into knots. As soon as her dad had called her early this morning to announce his intentions of coming into town, she’d known that it had to be about something serious, but had tried to tell herself that she was just being paranoid.

Now wished that she’d just sucked it up and asked him over the phone what was going on, because she hated being kept in suspense. Faith was the same way, and she looked at David with more concern than should be allowed to be on the face of a ten year old. “What’s going on, Gramps?”

Faith was seated in between the two adults, so when David reached out to gently take one of her hands, he could carefully look at her and Emma. “You know how I’ve always taught you that honesty is the most important thing to our family?” It didn’t matter which of the two he was talking to specifically, because it was a value that he had carefully instilled in both of them growing up. When they nodded, nonplussed, he gulped once, then continued. “That’s why I knew that I had to come here to talk to you, even though I knew that it would probably be easier on everyone if I just said nothing.”

Emma reached forward to rest her hand on top of both David and Faith’s. “Dad, just tell us what’s going on. Before you let us get all the wrong ideas.”

David took a deep breath in, then slowly let it out. “I think- No, I know- that Killian is here.”

Faith stared at David with wide eyes. “You mean… my dad?”

David only hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Yes. I don’t know why he’s here, or how, but I saw him. And it can’t be a coincidence that I saw him lurking around somewhere so close to Storybrooke. It worries me that he’s shown up now, of all times, while you two are here and busy trying to break the curse.” He sounded like he didn’t really know what to say after that, especially as he looked carefully at Emma.

As soon as he’d finished announcing his reason for showing up, Emma had frozen in place. She didn’t know what to think, at least not about what any of this meant for herself. But one thing that she did know for sure was that she didn’t want Killian getting anywhere near Faith. Because Emma refused to let her daughter be hurt the same way that Emma had been hurt nearly eleven years ago.

,,,

Regina was always pleased when Graham was the one who reached out to her first, which is something that had only started happening within the past few months. It had to mean that he really did love her, and that he wasn’t just with her because he had no other choice. 

But as much as she loved spending time with Graham, she couldn’t ignore the jolt that she felt the moment someone new crossed into the town. It was the same feeling she’d felt several months ago when the sickeningly sweet White family had showed up, though it was something that she hadn’t felt in nearly thirty years before that. And now it was happening for the second time in less than half a year. It felt like some kind of sign warning her of doom that was coming her way.

As much as she enjoyed spending time with Graham, Regina felt that it was more important to investigate the latest intruder into her town. “I just remembered some last minute mayoral duties that I’ve neglected.”

Graham frowned as he looked up from the picnic that he’d just started unpacking. “Do you really have to go? I feel like it’s rare that I ever see you during the daylight hours.”

Regina was conflicted, but it was important to her that she keep her town free of any outside influences that might ruin the perfect situation that she had going on here. “I’m sorry.”

Graham sighed, then bowed his head down in acceptance. “It’s probably for the best. I should get back to the station soon to meet up with Emma.”

Regina paused in the middle of putting her jacket back on. “Emma?”

Graham nodded. “Emma White. My deputy. Remember her?”

Of course Regina remembered her. How could she forget the person who’d slipped into Storybrooke uninvited, and had already begun interfering with so many things that were none of her business. And it hadn’t escaped Regina’s attention that Emma White was both attractive, and that it was clear Faith White’s father wasn’t in the picture.

After another moment of hesitation, Regina slipped her jacket off the rest of the way, and kicked off her heels so that she could settle more comfortably onto the blanket that had been spread out on the floor. “I suppose that it wouldn’t hurt to put off work for a little while longer, if you’re willing to do the same.”

What she didn’t see when she looked down to take in the spread Graham had brought with him was the sad, lost look on Graham’s face. 


	11. Chapter 11

Emma gave Marco a nod of gratitude. “Thank you so much for this.”

Mary Margaret looked concerned by the new deadbolt on the front door, and once Marco had been paid and had taken off, she looked at Emma. “Do you really think that this is necessary?” She had a hard time imagining Emma ever being such a bad judge of character that she would ever date someone liable to break into her home, but she also knew that it couldn’t be a coincidence that Emma was acting this jumpy just a day after revealing that Faith’s father might be somewhere nearby. “I know you said he left before finding out you were pregnant, but does that really warrant… this?” she gestured to the door, as if that could sum up everything she was trying to say. 

Emma let out a tired sigh, and leaned back against the wall, arms crossed loosely in front of her. “I know what you might be thinking, and it isn’t like that. He isn’t a bad man. But he can be a bit… obsessive. Not about me, I suppose we were never really close enough for that, but about a certain goal of his. Something he’s wanted to do since long before I met him. The only way that he would be back now is if he figured out a way to reach his goal. And I suppose I just worry about what he might have done, who he might have made deals with, to get to this point.”

Mary Margaret frowned. “You mean like getting involved with some kind of gang?”

It was obvious that Emma bit back some laughter before she answered, though Mary Margaret didn’t understand what was so funny about that guess. “I guess you could call it something like that. Truthfully, I have no idea who he might have gotten involved with, but I am pretty sure that it can’t be anyone up to any good.” Then her shoulders slumped down as she dropped her arms, and her voice was quieter when she spoke again. “It’s not just that, though. It’s also the fact that if he’s here to obtain his goal, then that means he’s not here to meet his daughter. I’ve had more than enough time to get over him, but even if she never admits it out loud, I know that Faith’s always wanted to have her father in her life. For him to be here is one thing, but if he does meet her, just to pass through her life and leave again, I’m worried about what that would do to her.”

Personally, Mary Margaret didn’t think that Emma was actually over this guy, based on the few scraps of information she’d gotten throughout their time as roommates, but she was kind enough to not mention it. “I know you want to protect Faith, and believe me, I want that just as much, but I also think that maybe it should be her choice about whether it’s worth the risk or not. How much does she know about him?”   


“Pretty much everything,” Emma admitted. “During the time we were together, we spent a lot of time at my house since he didn’t really have a place of his own, and then when Faith was growing up, my dad would always answer all her questions about her own dad. I never saw the point in keeping it all a secret from her.”

Mary Margaret smiled wryly. “That makes sense. Knowing Faith, she’d figure it all out for herself one way or another, and I’m sure that you’d much rather she hear it all from family.” Then she cleared her throat, and carefully moved closer to Emma, not wanting to scare her off. “So who was this guy, exactly?”

She watched closely as Emma tilted her head to think for a moment. While there did seem to be a small trace of bitterness there, mostly Emma seemed to feel nostalgic as she thought about Faith’s father. “His name’s Killian. He’s always been a bit rough around the edges, and is a bit older than me, which had my dad suspicious of him right from the start. I think that he felt a bit lost, and appreciated that we could understand each other. We both, um,” she paused, clearly trying to figure out how to word it. “We’re both from the same place,” she finally settled on, though something about the look on her face made Mary Margaret suspect that there was more to it than that. “Up until the day I met Killian, my dad and I were kind of alone in an unfamiliar place. Even though my dad wasn’t super happy about me dating someone older, he eventually ended up liking Killian too, if only because of the way that they could both reminisce.” 

This was the most Mary Margaret had ever gotten out of Emma about her life before Storybrooke, and she hoped that asking more questions wouldn’t make it stop. “How did you two meet?”

Emma let out an almost embarrassed sounding chuckle. “It’s a bit um, well. There’s this museum in Massachusetts that’s full of all these old artifacts salvaged from a sunken pirate ship. Pretty cool place from what I remember of it. Anyways, I was there on a field trip with my high school class near the end of senior year, and I ended up wandering off from the rest of the group. He ended up catching my attention, this man dressed in leather and with an actual hook hand standing in a pirate museum. He caught me staring and asked how easy I thought it would be to rob the place. I’m pretty sure that he was just joking.” She paused like she actually had to think about whether he’d have been joking or not. “We got to chatting, and he told me that he could tell right away that we were from the same place. I had to go back with the rest of my class eventually, but I told him where to meet up with me later, and he actually showed up.”

Mary Margaret couldn’t help but smile at that. “Sounds like you were very fond of him.”

Emma shrugged one shoulder. “Yeah, we cared about each other, and after the first few weeks, he got along pretty well with my dad, but it was never true love or anything. Can I tell you something I’ve never told anyone before?”

“Of course.”

Emma glanced around as if to double check that they were alone, even though she knew that Faith had already left early to hang out with her friends before school. “I was actually kinda relieved when I didn’t have any way to get in contact with him after he left me. I mean, I would have told him about Faith if I had a way, but I was glad that I didn’t have a way. It meant that he wouldn’t be able to let her down.”

Even if it hadn’t been true love between them, it was obvious that Emma had been pretty hurt by Killian leaving her for the sake of whatever his goal was. “Do you think he wouldn’t have wanted to be a part of her life?”

“I honestly don’t know. He wasn’t exactly the responsible type, though at one point he did mention that he’d almost become something of a father to the kid of his previous girlfriend.”

Mary Margaret furrowed her eyebrows. “So how much older is he than you, exactly?”

Emma snorted. “You sound just like my dad the day I first brought Killian to meet him.” She sighed, then straightened up and headed towards the kitchen. “Anyways, thanks for humoring me with the lock.” She grabbed a little bag of trail mix, then headed towards the stairs. “I need to change before heading into work. I’ll see you later?” Mary Margaret nodded, and watched Emma go. It made her heart hurt to think about the pain that Emma must have gone through back then. 

,,,

Faith dragged Cora off to the corner of the playground during recess. “I want to tell you something!” Cora let herself be pulled along, and then they settled at the base of a big tree. “My dad might be coming to town soon!”

Cora’s eyes widened. “Whoa, that’s a huge deal. But I thought you said he didn’t know about you?”   


Faith shrugged one shoulder. “He doesn’t. But if he comes anywhere near here, I’ll definitely make sure that he can’t leave without meeting me first. Plus if I see him in person, it will help me decide whether he’s more attractive than Graham.”   


“Why would that matter?” Cora wrinkled her nose at the thought of anyone being considered attractive.

Faith laughed. “Because I need to make sure that my mom ends up with the hottest person she can!”

Cora rolled her eyes. “You are so weird.” But she was happy for her friend. She’d never really given much thought to her own birth parents, because they hadn’t raised her and she’d never met them, so it was hard to even think of them as her parents at all. She suddenly snapped out of her thoughts as she looked at what Faith was waving around. “Where did you get that?”

There was a shiny gold credit card in Faith’s hand. “Mary Margaret. I’m sure she won’t mind me borrowing it, since she is my g- er, my friend. From everything I’ve heard about him, I’m pretty sure my dad isn’t the kind of guy to just accept that he has a kid, so I’m going to buy some proof.”

They both looked around to make sure none of the other children were looking at them, and that’s when Cora noticed that her mom was standing near the edge of the playground, talking to Mary Margaret. “That’s probably not good. As far as I can recall, my mom has never willingly talked to Miss Blanchard outside of parent-teacher conferences.”

“Hm. Let’s go interfere!” Faith jumped up to her feet, then reached down to give Cora a hand up. They made their way over to the adults just as Mary Margaret walked away. 

Cora looked up curiously. “What are you doing here?”

Her mom held out a familiar plastic container. “You forgot your lunchbox.”

“Thanks? I could have just shared with Faith, though. Her mom always packs extra snacks.”

The look Regina shot Faith was just barely short of being considered disdainful. “All junk food, I’m sure.” Truthfully, there had been many instances where Cora had ‘forgotten’ her lunch at home so that she’d have an excuse to share with her friend, but she was wise enough to not say that out loud. She just stared at her mother, who was still standing there. Regina sighed as she looked at Faith. “Would you mind giving me some time to speak with my daughter? Alone?” Faith didn’t leave until Cora nodded to let her know that it was okay. Then she faced Regina and raised one eyebrow, waiting to hear why she was still there. “I’ve been thinking that it’s time for a change. It might be best to transfer you to a new class with a new teacher.”

Cora frowned. “Why? I like Miss Blanchard, and I like my classmates!”

Regina crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s exactly the problem,” she muttered. “You were always such a well behaved child until that girl came into your life. Her and her mother and Miss Blanchard all seem content to encourage you to break the rules, but I will not have it. It’s time for you to have better influences in your life.”

Cora stubbornly shook her head. “I don’t want to transfer classes!” She stomped one of her feet, even though it made her feel like a little kid again. “Why don’t you want me to be happy?” Then she stomped off in the direction Faith had gone in before her mother could stop her. She really had been so much better behaved before befriending Faith, but she didn’t care. Kids weren’t supposed to be that good anyways.

,,,

As Faith walked home after school, she couldn’t help thinking about how upset Cora had been after confronting her mom. And that was without even knowing who Regina really was. But would it be fair to tell Cora the truth? It’s not like there was any evidence to back up what she was saying, and it would probably only make living in that house worse. But maybe it would help if she just-

Faith’s thoughts were cut off as she walked right into someone, and lost her loose grip on her books. She hadn’t been paying much attention to where she was going, since she generally preferred walking along the backroads, which were usually pretty empty at this time. She apologized as she knelt down to gather up her things. “Sorry, that was my bad.”

“Don’t worry about it,” came an unfamiliar voice. “Clearly you’ve got a lot on your mind.”

After gathering up the books that had fallen, she stood back up, and slowly tilted her head back to see who she had bumped into. Someone wearing a lot of leather, apparently. But then her eyes widened as they narrowed in one of his hands, before she craned her neck up so fast that it cracked softly. She stared up at the face of the man above her with wide eyes. He didn’t look overly familiar on his own, but she’d seen her own face in the mirror often enough to recognize the features on someone else. And besides, it was pretty difficult to mistake the hook he had in place of a left hand. 

Her eyes widened as she stared at him, and he frowned down at her. He opened his mouth, either to tell her to stop staring or to ask her why she was looking in the first place, but Faith spoke before he could. “Dad!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This](https://www.discoverpirates.com/) is the museum I was thinking of. No idea when it actually opened, but we'll pretend that it's been around long enough for it to make sense lol


	12. Chapter 12

Faith felt pure delight swirl through her as she looked up at the man standing in front of her. Even after David had told them that he’d seen Killian in the area, it somehow hadn’t felt quite real. But now here he was, standing right in front of her, looking down at her with furrowed eyebrows. 

Having never seen any photos of him before, Faith had never known quite what to expect. He certainly wore more makeup than she’d ever seen on a guy before, but he clearly knew what he was doing with it. He was also dressed in a way that would not blend in anywhere in this world, although the hook hand would probably be enough to make him stand out anyways.

Overall, Faith wasn’t disappointed with what she saw. Just from a quick glance, though, she couldn’t decide whether he was the better choice of love interest for her mom. She’d have to get to know Killian better before she could reach a definitive conclusion about that.

While all those thoughts ran through Faith’s mind, Killian’s thoughts seemed to be clearly written across his face. Mostly confusion. “You must be mistaken. I have no children.” Then he stepped around her and quickly walked in the direction he’d been heading in before they’d collided.

It was tempting to chase after him, but Faith couldn’t deny the small sting of hurt that came from being rejected like that. But in Killian’s defense, he hadn’t known about Faith’s existence, so she knew that he probably needed some time to understand the situation. Though it was hard to believe that he didn’t find her at least a little bit familiar, considering the resemblance.

For now, Faith clutched her books tighter to her chest, and hurried the rest of the way home. She got home to an empty house, since Mary Margaret was still at school and Emma was still at work. But that was probably for the best. Even though Faith was excited to have the chance to finally meet her father, she also needed some time to adjust to the idea of actually having him in her life.

,,,

Regina walked into Mr. Gold’s shop, feeling quite annoyed. Her annoyance only grew when he looked up at her and spoke in that tone that made it clear he saw himself as being far superior to her. “Your majesty. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“My tree is dying. Why?”

He arched one eyebrow. “Perhaps it’s your fertilizer?”

Regina clenched her teeth together and tried to swallow down her irritation. “You think this is funny? Well, I’ll tell you what I think. I think it’s a sign of the curse weakening, and despite how stupid you seem to think I am, I know that Emma is the one responsible. But do you care? No, you’re just content to sit back and do… whatever it is that you’re doing, while all my hard work burns.”

Mr. Gold had the audacity to chuckle, as if there was anything about this situation that was funny. “That’s not all, is it? Come on, you might as well get everything off your chest.”

Regina was probably too young for stress wrinkles, but if she did have anything, she knew exactly who to blame. “Miss White and her obnoxious child are trying to lead my daughter astray. They’ll succeed over my dead body.”

“The curse was meant to take away Snow White and Prince Charming’s happiness. Perhaps you giving up Cora’s love is just the price to keep the curse unbroken.”

At the mention of her two most hated enemies, something clicked for Regina. Perhaps she was just a fool for not having put it together sooner, but it’s not as though White was a terribly uncommon last name in this world. “Emma White- who is she?” Regina demanded.

The smug little smirk on Mr. Gold’s face seemed like enough of an answer. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, dearie.”

“I have to get rid of her,” she said slowly. “Not just for Cora, but to preserve everything that I’ve worked for. And you’ve known about this the entire time she’s been here, haven’t you?”

Mr. Gold chose not to answer her question, and instead just addressed the first part of what she’d said. “Well, well. You’re going to have to be quite creative. We both know the repercussions in killing Miss White. The curse will be…”

Regina clenched her jaw. “The curse will be broken. Because that’s the way you designed it. Undo it.” She could already see that he wasn’t going to agree to help her, though. For some reason or another, he wanted this curse to be broken. Which meant that Regina would be on her own when it came to figuring out how the hell to save everything before it could crumble to dust around her.

,,,

Emma got home to find Mary Margaret and Faith curled up on the couch together, watching some weird Christmas movie even though it was still more than half a year away from Christmas. She hung up her coat, then plopped down on the other side of Faith. “Have you ever thought about how bizarre this movie is?”

“I like it,” Faith insisted, jabbing out her elbow to hit Emma lightly. “Especially the part where Buddy’s dad gives up his job to help him even though they barely know each other.”

Emma felt her expression soften at that, and she reached out to wrap her arm around Faith’s shoulder. She watched the rest of the movie in silence, but once it was over, she tugged Faith closer to her. “So how was your day? What’s going on with you?”

Faith sighed, and ducked her head down, fidgeting with a loose string on her shirt instead of meeting Emma’s eyes. “I think… no, I know that I met my dad today.” Emma’s eyes widened in surprise, even though she really should have expected such an occurrence after David’s announcement yesterday. “But it’s just like you and Gramps have always told me. He doesn’t even know that he’s got a kid. But I’ve already got a plan in place to convince him. I don’t know what the circumstances were of him leaving, or what happened between you two specifically in the end, but I do know that it had nothing to do with me, which means that I should still be allowed to get to know him, right?”

Emma nodded, even though her instincts told her to disagree. “If that’s what you want, then I won’t stop you,” she said slowly. “But I want you to think really carefully about this first, okay? He’s here on other business, and he might leave just as suddenly as he got here. I just don’t want you to be let down.”

“I won’t be,” Faith insisted. “Even if I just get to talk to him a few times, that’s already way more than I had of him the entire first ten years of my life. But it won’t matter anyways, because as soon as he officially meets me, he’s gonna wanna stay.”

Despite her brave words, Emma could tell that her daughter was also worried about what would happen when Killian inevitably took off. It really was no fair, and she wished that there was some magical, perfect solution to this situation. But Emma, of all people, understood that there was no magic in this world.

,,,

Emma really didn’t want to be here, but she took a deep breath in, then pushed the door open and walked into the pawn shop. Mr. Gold looked at her curiously. “Miss White, is there something I can do for you?”

Emma glanced around, but didn’t spot any signs of a recent disturbance, so she looked back at Gold. “Just wanted to make sure that everything’s alright in here.” Once the curse broke, Killian would lose his window of opportunity to get his revenge, because Rumplestiltskin with magic at his command would never go down without a fight. “Er, look, this is probably going to sound a little strange, but you should probably be on the lookout for intruders. There’s been, um, reports of a prowler in this area, and you probably have a lot of valuable stuff in here.” It was the best she could do without sounding insane.

If Gold thought it was strange that she had come here unprompted to warn him of something that he hadn’t heard any news about, he didn’t show it. He just blinked once, then nodded. “I understand. Thank you for the warning, Deputy. Just don’t go thinking that that counts as your favor.”

To be honest, with everything else that was going on in her life, Emma had pretty much forgotten about the fact that she owed Gold a favor, and she really wasn’t looking forward to him cashing in on it. Especially if he didn’t go for it until the curse broke, because Rumplestiltskin was surely much more dangerous than Mr. Gold. 

Satisfied that she’d done all she could, at least for the time being, Emma left. She would have just gotten back into her car, but she paused when she noticed a slight glint coming from above one of the buildings across the street. She slowed her pace, but didn’t come to a complete stop. What were the odds that the glint belonged to a spyglass?

She got into her car and drove away, but then doubled back around and walked down behind the buildings across from the pawn shop. She went inside the one that the glint had come from, and quietly headed all the way up to the roof. Emma had to pause for a moment in the doorway to catch her breath.

Even with his back facing her, she immediately recognized him. And while she’d expected this, between David saying Killian was coming and Faith saying she’d met him, somehow it was different to actually be looking at him like this. 

After taking that moment to herself, Emma did her best to regain her composure, and was proud of how strong her voice came out. “Don’t you know that stalking is a crime?”

He whirled around, too shameless to have a guilty expression on his face- on his face that looked exactly the same as Emma remembered despite ten years having passed. His eyes widened slightly as he looked at her, then offered up a relaxed smile. “Emma, how lovely, and unexpected, it is to see you again.”

“Oh, cut the bullshit. This town has been here for twenty-eight years. Are you seriously asking me to believe that you just happened to show up after I do?”

He shrugged. “Er, yes?” Then a more serious tone took over his voice. “Emma, if you plan on getting in my way-”

“As if that’s ever stopped you before,” she interrupted. 

Killian scowled. “Oh, you are not putting that on me, love. I did warn you from the start that I’m not the kind of guy to stick around. Besides, you’re the one who chose not to come with me.”

There were a million retorts to that, arguments that Emma had come up with once she was alone, but she was an adult now, and knew that there were more important things to focus on than her own personal issues. “I didn’t come up here to argue with you,” she said with a bit too much ice in her words. “I’m here to tell you that if you dare break your daughter’s heart, you are going to regret it.”

“I don’t have a daughter,” was his automatic reply.

Emma narrowed her eyes, and crossed her arms over her chest. “You do. You met her yesterday afternoon. There’s no one else I love more in the entire world, even if she did grow up to be a mini version of you.”

Killian shook his head. “You’re mistaken. Now if you don’t mind, I’ve got other things to be doing right now. Important things.”

Emma clenched her jaw, and then dropped her arms, intentionally flashing the badge clipped to the top of her pants. “Your ‘important things’ better not involve breaking the law. So you can go back to whatever it is you’re doing, but if you try anything, I will stop you. And if you do anything- and I mean anything- to hurt Faith, then I will-”

“Faith?”

Emma narrowed her eyes. “Our kid.” Then she stomped back into the building, ignoring the way that Killian called out her name, her heart pounding as she made her way down to the street and back to her car. If it made Faith happy, then Emma could put up with that man, but she would definitely be drawing the line at tolerating him.

,,,

Cora looked up and down the street nervously. “Are you sure that this is a good idea? What if you really were mistaken, and the guy’s not even your dad?”   


“Trust me, if you saw his face, you’d have no doubts. I couldn’t possibly be anyone’s kid but his. And my mom’s, obviously. But he’s not so convinced yet, which is why I need to be able to talk to him.”

Cora looked dubiously at the front door to Granny’s bed and breakfast. “And you think that he’s going to be staying here?”

Faith shrugged. “It’s basically the only place in town for visitors to stay. Unless he’s sleeping in his car or something. Or, oh- maybe he doesn’t even have a car. He must have a giant pirate ship! The  _ Jolly Roger _ is what it’s called if the books are accurate at all.”

Maybe this girl was her closest friend, but that didn’t mean that Cora wasn’t going to think that she was absolutely insane. “What are you even talking about? I think someone would notice a giant pirate ship being parked where there wasn’t one yesterday.”

Instead of explaining anything, Faith just dragged Cora into the building, and up to the front desk, where Granny was sitting and doing a crossword puzzle in the back of the newspaper. She cleared her throat, and Granny looked up at the girls with a patiently fond smile. “What can I do for you two young ladies today?”

Faith smiled charmingly. “I was just wondering if my dad’s checked in yet. His name is Killian Jones. He’s got a hook hand.”

Granny indulgently looked at her guest register, then looked back up at Faith and shook her head. “I’m sorry, dear, but no one by that name has checked in.”

Of course Faith couldn’t just accept it and leave it at that. She pulled out a slightly crumpled ten dollar bill from her pocket, and slid it across the top of the desk. “Be sure to let me know if he shows up, won’t you?” Then she pulled Cora outside without waiting for an answer. “Hm. Want to go to the old playground?”

“You’re impossible,” Cora muttered. “But yeah, let’s go.” 


	13. Chapter 13

Emma had a million and one things on her mind, but she still put the paper coffee cup down on Graham’s desk with a smile. “Hey, how’re you doing?”

Graham sighed as he leaned back in his seat. “Well, I was going to drop dead from exhaustion, but now I don’t have to worry about that because I’ve been rescued by my favorite deputy.”

“I’m your only deputy,” she reminded him with a soft snort. Of course there were other officers, but they were only called in when they were needed. 

Graham just shrugged. “Maybe so, but it doesn’t change the truth.” The grin he gave her was a tired one, but it seemed genuine enough. “So how’re you and Faith? I may have… heard a few things recently.”

Emma leaned up against his desk, and she knew that she sounded more resigned than she should when she asked, “What sort of things?”

Graham grabbed the coffee and took a big gulp before answering. “That her father is in town.” At Emma’s look, he quickly hurried to add, “It’s not like the big talk of the town or anything. I just happened to run into Mary Margaret, and she mentioned it. She also said something about getting new locks and I just… is everything alright? Is this guy going to cause problems? If you need help with a restraining order or anything like that…”

Emma quickly shook her head. “No, he’s not- that’s not the situation. It’s kind of complicated, but honestly, things were good between us before he left. Thank you for looking out for us, though.”

He didn’t look entirely convinced, but he nodded and relaxed a bit. “You’re a good person, Emma. And I know that it’s been difficult for you here, and I care about Faith, so of course I’m going to look out for you two. I don’t know if I’ve told you this before, but you believing me and telling me everything has really helped me. I’m really glad to have met you.”

Before she could respond to that, Emma’s phone rang loudly, the noise echoing through the station. She glanced at it before giving Graham a wry smile. “Duty calls.”

“Someone in trouble?”

Emma snorted. “It’s just my roommate. Hang on a sec, I’ll be right back.” She stepped out into the hallway so that she could talk in private. “Hey, what’s up?”   


Mary Margaret chuckled.  _ “I hope you weren’t too attached to the microwave...”  _

By the time Mary Margaret finished explaining the wildly fascinating tale of why they would need to get a new microwave, involving Faith, tin foil, three apples, and an instant cup of macaroni, several minutes had passed. Emma walked back into the main room of the station, and then froze, clutching her hand tighter around her phone.

Killian was standing up against Emma’s desk, arms crossed over his chest, and a bright red mark on his cheek, while Graham was standing behind his desk, a red mark on one of his eyes. She looked back and forth between the two of them, then hurried over to Graham. “What the hell happened? I was gone for like five minutes!”

Graham nodded towards Killian. “That psycho came in here the moment you were gone and sucker punched me.”

She glared over at Killian, and he just shrugged. “Hey, to be fair, he got me back. Who is this man, Emma? This guy who’s ‘so happy to have met you’?”

Graham narrowed his eyes. “You know him? Who is he? I think I’d remember seeing him around town before.”

Emma moved to stand in the space between them, though slightly closer to Graham’s side, in the hopes that she could prevent another altercation. “Graham, this is Killian. Faith’s father.”

“I’m not-”

She didn’t give him time to protest. “And Killian, this is Graham, the sheriff of Storybrooke.”

Killian frowned. “I meant who is he to you?”

“You have no right to ask me that,” she bit out. “If I recall correctly, you’re the one who said that it’s just a coincidence that you’re here at the same time as me.”

That took some of the air out of his sails. “Well, yes, I did say that, but that doesn’t mean I don’t-” he cut himself off to take a deep breath in, then slowly let it out. “Look I just came in here to-”

“To turn yourself in for stalking Mr. Gold?”

Both of Graham’s eyebrows shot up at that. “Wait- what? Can we just take a minute to talk about what exactly is going on here?”

Killian rolled his eyes. “As if I have time to spare for you.”

“You’re the one who came in here just to hit me,” Graham reminded him. “Need I point out that I could easily arrest you for assault right now?”

Emma thought that she’d have to get in between more fists swinging, but Killian ended up letting out an obnoxiously loud snort and then storming out of the station without another word. A tiny part of her wanted to go after him and ask what the hell he’d been thinking to come in here and attack the sheriff, but the bigger part of her thought she could already guess the answer, and knew that she wouldn’t like it.

So instead she focused on Graham, who was still standing there on guard, clearly ready to fend off another attack. Emma gently reached out to touch his arm, and when he didn’t pull away, she guided him back down into his seat. “Let me go grab the first aid kit. That looks like a nasty cut on your eyebrow.”

“Maybe I’ll get lucky and it’ll turn into a handsome scar,” he joked, though the mood was still too tense for it to make either of them laugh. Graham let out a heavy sigh as Emma put the kit down on his desk and rummaged through for some rubbing alcohol and gauze. “Would it be wrong of me to admit that I’m relieved he has never been a part of Faith’s life?”

Emma snorted. “No, probably not. Believe me, I’m well aware that he’s not perfect. But he’s not usually like this.”

Graham winced slightly at the burn of the alcohol, then he asked, “Like what?”

“Are you really going to make me say it?” She sighed. “The thing is, we dated for barely half a year, and I knew from the start that I was his first serious relationship since his previous girlfriend died. But things ended amiably enough between us, or at least I thought that they did. He offered me the chance to go with him, but didn’t seem to care at all when I turned him down. So to see him now, acting in a way that I could only describe as ‘jealous’... well, it makes no sense to me.”

“Hm. Where did he want to go?”

Emma finished applying the little bandage to Graham’s face, then stepped back. “He’s from the Enchanted Forest too, but he wasn’t there when the curse hit. When I met him, I suppose it felt a bit like fate, to find someone from the place that I was supposed to grow up in. He confided in me about the woman he’d loved, Milah, and that she’d been murdered by Rumplestiltskin- Gold. He’s been on a quest for revenge ever since. Anyways, he figured out how to leave this world and go to a different one, but I couldn’t go with him.”

Graham started to raise his eyebrow, but then stopped immediately after a small flinch. He cleared his throat as if that would hide that endearingly foolish little moment. “Why not?”

Emma gave him a pointed look. “I’ve kinda got the whole savior thing going on, remember?”

He tilted his head as he seemed to think over everything he’d just learned, then he stood up, careful not to loom over Emma as he did. “As your friend, I have so many questions. But as sheriff, I’ve just got one: Does he pose a threat to the people of Storybrooke?”

It would be easy to lie, but Emma had been raised to always be honest, so she reluctantly told the truth, even if that might lead to more problems in the future. “I don’t think he’ll needlessly hurt any random person to cross his path. But I do think that he’ll stop at nothing to kill Rumplestlitskin, especially since he knows that he only has so much time before I figure out how to break this curse, and he loses his chance.”

Graham let out a long sigh. “Is anything about your life easy?”

“You could always thank me for making your job more interesting,” Emma suggested. “I’ll talk to him. He doesn’t want to accept that Faith’s his daughter, but maybe if I can convince him, then I can stop him from doing anything too stupid.”

“And if he does do anything stupid?”

Emma sighed. “Protecting this town is more important to me than my ex,” she assured Graham, even as she felt a strange swoop in her belly at the thought of having to lock Killian up. 

With that conversation done, she started to head to her own desk, but then glanced back when Graham spoke again. “So, uh, the leather and guyliner really does it for you, huh?”

Emma hurled the nearest thing that she could reach at him, a box of paperclips. “Oh, shut up,” she muttered. Graham just laughed, and then she found herself joining him a moment later. What a truly bizarre life she led.

,,,

Faith paused the song she was listening to as she did her homework. She thought she’d heard something, but once she paused the music, there was only silence. Just before she pressed the play button, though, she heard it again. Someone was knocking at the front door.

Faith glanced over at Mary Margaret, who was grading papers nearby, and Mary Margaret just shrugged. “I’m not expecting anyone. Who do you think it is?” She capped her red pen, then walked over to the door to unlock it and pull it open. “Hello?”

Watching with unashamed curiosity, Faith saw who was one the other side of the door, and practically leapt over the back of the couch in her hurry to get to the door. “Dad! I knew you’d want to meet me!”  
Mary Margaret stared at Killian with wide eyes. “You’re Faith’s dad?”

“No,” he insisted, at the same time that Faith proudly answered, “Yup!” 

Killian frowned. “Look, I just need to know if Emma’s here. Someone told me that this is where she lives.”

It was so brave of him to come this far, even if he was hiding behind excuses now, and Faith wasn’t going to let her dad run away again. So she grabbed him by the sleeve and yanked him into the loft. She knew that he had to be way stronger than she was, but he was probably too surprised to do anything back, so he stumbled inside. “She’ll be home after work. But first let me show you my baby photos!”

He shook his head. “Look, I don’t care what you’ve been told, I’m not your dad, and I’m not here to have anything to do with you.”

But Faith was good at being persuasive, or maybe she was just good at moving so fast that no one else had time to argue with her, because soon enough she was on the couch in between Mary Margaret and Killian, and they were watching a movie about fairies and pirates that was surprisingly good despite its young intended audience. Faith wanted to babble on the whole time to try and get to know her father better, but she refrained from doing so when she saw how invested Killian was in the plot of the movie.

Somehow, she managed to keep Killian seated throughout the sequel as well, and then she threw in one of the High School Musical movies just for fun. They were about halfway through when the front door opened, and Killian leapt to his feet like the couch was on fire.

Emma didn’t seem all that surprised to see Killian in the loft, she just sighed and shrugged off her jacket. “Breaking and entering now too?”

“He was invited,” Faith assured her mom. “We’ve been hanging out all afternoon!”  
Emma raised one eyebrow, but didn’t say any of the million snarky lines that were probably on the tip of her tongue. Instead, she just nodded towards the door. “Can I speak to you in private?”

Killian grinned. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Faith tried to follow them, but Emma slammed the door shut once they were both standing outside the loft. Faith settled for pressing her ear up against the door and hoping for the best. The voices were muffled, but she was able to make out a few words said at a higher volume, and then she scrambled back so that she wouldn’t fall when the door was pulled open again. 

From the look on Emma’s face, it was clear she knew that her daughter had been trying to eavesdrop, but she didn’t reprimand Faith for it. She just pulled Faith closer and kept one arm around her shoulders. “Thanks.”

He smiled. “Well, I have always been good at finding what doesn’t belong to me.”

Emma’s arm tightened just slightly around Faith. “And what does.”

Killian didn’t respond to that, though. “Well, now that that’s settled, I’ll just get out of your hair.”

“Wait!” Faith pulled away from her mom so that she could run to grab the laptop. She quickly opened it to the results that had been emailed back to her recently, and then practically shoved the screen into Killian’s face. “This is a DNA test I had done. It’s proof that we’re related!”   


Killian snatched the computer out of her hands, and scowled down at the results. “This is a bunch of random lines and shapes. Doesn’t prove anything.”

“Well not yet,” Faith said with some exasperation. “You have to get your DNA tested too, but then you’ll see that it’s a match.” She tilted her head to the side, and tried her best to put on puppy dog eyes. “If you’re really so sure that I’m not your kid, then what’s the harm in trying? It would just prove you right.”

Killian clenched his jaw, then turned and left the loft without another word. Faith was somewhat disappointed that he hadn’t gone for it, but her mood was pretty much repaired when she heard the sound of her mom’s loud snorts of laughter. “Believe me, kid, he does not need any testing to see for himself where you came from. Now come on, I could use a walk.”

“Will we walk by the ice cream shop?”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Maybe. Only one way to find out.” Faith grinned as she hopped over to join her mother. Emma turned to look back at Mary Margaret. “Want anything while we’re out?”

Mary Margaret shook her head. “No, I’m all set, thanks.” There was an amused look in her eyes, but Faith didn’t have the time to analyze it at the moment. “Have fun.”

“We always do!” Faith shouted before practically skipping out the door. 


	14. Chapter 14

It was pretty clear that Graham wasn’t particularly pleased to see Killian march into the station, a large burlap sack slung over one shoulder. “If you came to show off because you just robbed a bank-” he started.

Killian rolled his eyes. “The old witch didn’t label the creepy heart compartments in her vault, so I just grabbed ‘em all, just in case.”

Graham’s eyes widened, and Emma quickly stood as well. “You mean you actually found it?”

There was a smug look on Killian’s face, but as much as Emma hated to admit it, in this case he deserved to be a little smug. She and Graham had searched all over Storybrooke over the course of several months and had never found a single clue as to where Graham’s heart was hidden away. Killian had been assigned the task three days ago, and had already been successful.

Both of the officers watched as Killian turned the sack upside down and a bunch of golden boxes rained out of it, several of them popping open upon impact with the ground, which sent the hearts inside bouncing away. “Careful!” Emma snapped. She couldn’t bear the thought of Graham being in pain because his heart was treated too roughly.

Apparently Graham didn’t care, though, because he just dropped to his knees and began rummaging through the pile, eager to find the one that belonged to him. Emma wanted to help with the search, but she had no idea how to figure out which heart belonged to who, and figured that it was best to let Graham sort through them on his own. Surely he’d know what his own heart felt like, right?

While Graham dug through the pile, Killian arched one eyebrow. “So how were you two planning on putting the heart back in, anyways?”

,,,

Emma watched nervously as Killian held his hook over the heart that Graham had identified as his own. “Are you sure you can do this?”

Killian rolled his eyes. “Honestly, this doubt in me is quite hurtful. Besides, putting a heart back into its rightful body is so easy that I could do it in my sleep.”

“Because god forbid you ever have to actually put in effort for other people,” Emma muttered. 

Not wanting to lose this opportunity because Emma couldn’t resist getting into an argument with her ex, Graham cleared his throat to bring the attention back to him. “I’m ready,” he said with absolute certainty in his voice. 

Emma moved closer to him, then reached out to hold Graham’s hand. She had no idea what it was like to lose your heart, let alone to get it back, but she just knew that this wasn’t going to be a pleasant experience, and she was happy to be here for Graham. She ignored the way that Killian side eyed the hands that were clasped together.

In one quick move, Killian stabbed the heart onto the end of his hook, and jammed his hand right into Graham’s chest. It was surprisingly clean despite the violence of the situation, with not a single drop of blood being shed. For one strange moment, it felt almost as if the entire world was holding its breath.

Then Killian yanked his hand free, and Graham let out a loud pained gasp, collapsing down to his knees while clutching at his head. Emma dropped down with him. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

The sheriff spoke through gritted teeth. “My memories… all of them are back. And I- I’ve done so many terrible things. I-” he cut himself off and squeezed his eyes shut.

Emma really wished that she knew what to do to make him feel better. “You had no choice,” she insisted. “The queen forced you to do those things. And you’ve managed to do good things despite that. You saved both of my parents’ lives, remember? Plus, even if the curse gave you the job of being the sheriff here, it didn’t make you brave and kind and generous, that was all you. You’re a good person, Graham, no matter what Regina made you do.”

Killian let out a loud snort that got Emma to glare up at him. “I nearly forgot that that’s all that’s important to you, isn’t it? Being ‘good’? Such a self-righteous little family.”

“Why are you still here?”

The pirate shrugged. “Thought there’d be something interesting going on here.” His eyes seemed to focus on where Emma’s hands were touching Graham’s shoulder and arm. “But I was wrong. Too boring of a show for me. I think I’ll just get out of here now. Don’t forget to hold up your end of the deal.” Then he rushed off, and Emma didn’t have the time to worry about what he might get up to.

Graham gave Emma a concerned look. “What kind of a deal did you make with him?” The only reason Emma didn’t brush the question off immediately was because she could tell that Graham was just trying to distract himself from all the pain he was feeling at the moment. 

She let out a soft laugh. “Don’t worry, I’m much more confident making deals with Captain Hook than I am with Rumplestiltskin. It wasn’t anything too complicated. I just told him that if he could find your heart, then I’d convince you not to have him arrested for assaulting the sheriff.”

Graham tilted his head as he looked closely at Emma. “But we already discussed this. You know I wasn’t planning on arresting him anyways.”

Emma rewarded him with a devious little smile. “I know.” Then she stood up, keeping her grip on Graham’s arm so that she could haul him up to his feet as well. “Come on, I think that you could do with a little rest.”

He suddenly wrapped his hand around Emma’s wrist, a little tighter than was comfortable. “I’m not sure that I should be alone right now,” he admitted in a low whisper. “It’s just so much to deal with.”

The first instinct was for Emma to bring Graham home with her, but then she remembered coming home to find Killian watching movies with Faith the other day, and decided that it wasn’t worth the risk of the two men bumping into each other again. She had to think about it for a long minute before she came up with a solution. “Why don’t I bring you to Granny’s? There’s always plenty of people there.”

Graham frowned. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. I wouldn’t be able to talk to any of them. Not about what’s really going on with me. You’re the only one- the only one who gets it.”

“Not the only one,” Emma assured him. “Come on, I know exactly what you need.”

,,,

Because Faith was just such a good daughter, as soon as her mom called and gave her some instructions, she set out to follow them. She told Mary Margaret that she was heading out to meet up with Emma, and then she took off. It didn’t take long for her to get to Granny’s, and she went in through the bed side of the bed and breakfast.

The only one behind the desk this time was Ruby, and Faith smiled charmingly up at the young woman. “Good afternoon. I’d like a room with two beds, please.”

Ruby peered down at Faith in bemusement. “Things not working out at Mary Margaret’s?”

Faith laughed. “No, things are great.” And it wasn’t even a lie. The only thing that would make living with Mary Margaret even better was if the woman knew that she was Faith’s grandmother, but that would happen soon enough. For now, she was content with the way things were, especially now that Killian was here. That seemed like way too much personal information to share (as well as information about the curse, which Faith wasn’t allowed to talk to other people about), so she didn’t say any of that. “My mom asked me to book a room with two beds. I don’t know why. I also don’t have her wallet, but she should be here soon, and she said that she wants the room to be ready when she shows up. Is that okay?”

After staring at her for a few long seconds, Ruby finally nodded. “Yeah. If your mom says that she’ll be here soon to pay, then I believe her.” She turned around to grab a key, then turned back to hand it over to Faith. “I just hope that everything’s okay.”

It was only a few minutes later before the front door opened, and Emma walked inside with Graham practically draped over her shoulder and being dragged alongside her. Ruby and Faith both rushed over to help distribute Graham’s weight more evenly between them so that they could carry him to the room Faith had asked for. 

Once they had the unconscious man settled onto a bed, shoes off and a blanket tucked around him, the three headed back into the hallway and closed the door behind them so that they could speak without disturbing Graham’s rest. “Mom, what’s going on? Is Graham okay? If he’s sick, why didn’t you take him to the hospital?”

Emma sighed, and pulled Faith closer with an arm around her shoulders. “Graham’s been through a lot today. He… He remembered something sad from his past, and he needs some time to come to terms with it.” She looked at Ruby, and let out a soft sigh. “Can you look after him for a few minutes? I just need to talk to Faith in private.”

Ruby nodded earnestly. “You can count on me. I won’t let you down, I promise.”

Emma smiled. “Thank you.” Then she led Faith out of the building and into her car. Faith looked at her curiously, and Emma leaned over to pull her into a hug. “Graham got his heart back,” she said in a soft voice. “And he got back all of his memories of the Enchanted Forest, some of which were less pleasant than others. I don’t know how long it will take, but I do know that Graham’s going to need our help as he deals with everything. I know it’s a lot to ask of you, and I promise that you’re allowed to say no now, or at any time in the future, but I’ll probably have to work more now with the sheriff temporarily out of commission and I-”

“Of course I’ll help,” Faith interrupted. She knew that that’s what her mom was trying to ask, and she knew that it was easier for Emma to not have to find the words herself. “Graham’s a good person, and he’s a good candidate to be with you, so I’ll do everything in my power to get him back into tip-top shape.”

Emma raised one eyebrow. “A good candidate for what?”

Faith shrugged, an innocent smile on her face. “Did I say anything?”

Emma rolled her eyes, then reached out to ruffle up Faith’s hair. Then the two of them headed back inside, and up to Graham’s room. Ruby reported that nothing interesting had happened in the past couple of minutes, then she went back downstairs to the front desk. 

The two Whites settled down in the room, determined to make sure that Graham would know he wasn’t alone as soon as he woke up. It was a good idea, because Faith was pretty sure that whatever Graham was going through, it would be a lot worse if he had to go through it alone.

,,,

_ “And he found the vault just like that?” _ David asked in disbelief over the phone.

Emma nodded even though she knew that David wouldn’t be able to see it. “Yup. Turns out that he is good for some things after all, believe it or not.”

_ “So how’s he holding up? This can’t be easy for him.” _

Emma sighed as she thought about how Graham had looked earlier that morning when she’d shown up with some coffee for him. “About as well as can be expected, all things considered. It doesn’t help that he can’t even talk about it with anyone other than me and Faith, since everyone else would either call him crazy to his face, or think about how crazy he seems.”

There was a moment of hesitation before David spoke again, which worried Emma. Most of his worst ideas had been spoken into existence after a brief pause just like this one.  _ “If he needs someone to be there for him that doesn’t have other obligations like work or school…” _

“No, Dad. I don’t think that would be a good idea. The only reason you were able to get away with coming here last time is because Graham distracted Regina, but he’s in no state to be doing that at the moment. And even if he was, I’d never ask him to do it again. Not now that he’s finally free to make his own choices. But I do appreciate the offer, and I’m sure that Graham will as well. He told me once that being able to talk to you was a big help in keeping him sane.”

David sighed, breath whooshing over the line.  _ “Well, just let me know if anything else comes up that I could do. I just hate feeling so helpless while you and Faith are right in the center of the storm.” _

Emma couldn’t help smiling at that. She knew that her dad loved her, of course, since he’d told her pretty much every day while she’d been growing up, but sometimes just hearing the words wasn’t the same as being able to truly feel it deep down in her bones. “Nothing comes to mind at the moment, but I’ll let you know if that changes. I just- I just really hope that I can figure out how to break this curse soon.”

That got a little laugh out of David.  _ “Why? So you can have an excuse to stop seeing Killian?” _

The question was just to tease her, but it made her stop and think about something she’d never considered before. For most of her life, the curse had never truly felt real, always more of a hypothetical thing, so she’d never given much thought to the little details of it. “Dad… what if breaking the curse only sends home the people who were part of it in the first place?” What if everyone got to return with their memories intact, but Emma and David and Faith were left behind, doomed to be separated from the rest of their family forever?

_ “I made a promise to my wife, to our family,” _ David said in a firm voice.  _ “No matter what happens, we’ll always find each other. Even if there are obstacles in the way or things turn out more difficult than expected. I’ve already waited twenty-eight years, I can afford to be a little more patient.” _

Just like he’d always been able to do so easily, David’s words served to reassure Emma. Of course she was an adult now, so he couldn’t just read her a funny bedtime story that made everything better, but it seemed as though he would always have the uncanny ability to know exactly what he needed to say in any given situation, and for that, Emma was grateful. She really had lucked out by getting such a wonderful parent. 


	15. Chapter 15

Regina watched with eager eyes as Jefferson’s arm reached further into the hat than it should have been able to go. Then he pulled his hand free, holding a bright red apple with a single bite taken out of it. “Is this it?”

She took the apple carefully, not wanting to damage it before she had a chance to use it. “Yes, yes it is.”

“And my daughter? My Grace?”

It was hard to tear her gaze away from the magic in her hands. It had been so long since she’d held anything that had as much power as this, and she’d missed the almost addictive feeling that came with it. She forced herself to tear her eyes away just long enough to look up at Jefferson, though. “You’ll get what you want, just as soon as I solve my conundrum…”

,,,

Faith looked so happy at the moment that the emotion was basically contagious, and Cora couldn’t stop herself from grinning along with her friend. “What’s going on that’s got you in such a good mood?”

Faith clapped her hands together. “My dad is a hero! I always knew he had to be a good person, because otherwise Gramps and Mom wouldn’t have let him stick around back in the day, but now I have indisputable proof!”   


While Cora had already heard all the extensive details about Faith’s afternoon with her father, which involved forcing him to watch a bunch of movies he probably didn’t care about and talking to him about every single thing that had ever happened in Faith’s life, nothing had been mentioned about him proving himself to be a hero. “What did he do?”

It wasn’t until Faith actually answered that Cora’s smile started to fade in confusion. “He gave Graham his heart back!”

“Like… like they’re in love?” she asked hesitantly. Love was a concept she’d read about in a lot of books and seen in a lot of movies, but not one that she’d ever really understood herself.

But Faith shook her head. “No, like he literally gave Graham his heart back!”   


She sounded so excited, despite raving on about such utter nonsense. “Faith, did you have too much sugar for breakfast or something? Because you’re not making any sense right now.”

Faith blinked a couple of times, and then her own smile drooped as well. “No, I guess I must sound like a bit of a lunatic right now.” She glanced around even though they were the only ones on the playground, and then scooted closer to Cora before talking in a low voice. “Look, I’m not supposed to talk about this with other people, but I know that my mom is going to break the curse soon enough, and then it won’t matter anyways. And I want you to be able to understand exactly what my dad did.”

“What curse? What are you talking about?” she couldn’t keep the worry out of her voice. She’d always known that Faith was very easily excitable and had a wild imagination when it came to making up games and fun things to do, but now Cora was concerned that there was something else going on. What was she supposed to do about it if Faith was seriously ill?

Somehow Faith seemed unbothered by that concern, even though it was pretty unlikely that she didn’t notice it, perceptive as she usually was. “I want to tell you a story, about my mom, and the circumstances around her birth. You can ask questions when I’m done, but for right now, can you at least try to keep an open mind? I know that I’m going to sound a little bit crazy, but I swear to you that everything I’m about to tell you is one-hundred percent the truth. Will you hear me out?”

Even though Cora was worried, she nodded anyways. “You can tell me.” She’d never had a best friend before Faith had moved to town, and she really did want to keep an open mind, even if she was already thinking that Faith was a few crayons short of a pack. And she had to admit, at least to herself, that she was pretty curious about whatever story Faith was going to tell. Cora had no idea what Emma had to do with anything, but she did know that Faith tended to tell the best stories, so crazy or not, it was bound to be something good. “What is it?”

,,,

As Faith talked, sharing everything she’d learned about her family while growing up, she could see the emotions that danced across Cora’s face. It was pretty obvious that Cora didn’t believe her, especially at first, but once she’d gotten caught up in the drama and romance of the story, she seemed to have forgotten that this was supposed to be real in the first place.

“-and then he climbed into the cupboard and closed the doors before the guards could reach them, bringing himself and his new baby here to this world, where he raised her for twenty-eight years, at which point they knew that it was finally time for her to come and fulfill her job as the savior by coming here and breaking the curse.”

With that, she leaned back, satisfied that she’d covered basically all of the important details. Cora blinked a few times, as if she had to wake up from a slight daze, and then she crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s it? It just ends there? What about the happy ending?”

Faith laughed. “It’s not over yet. It’s actually happening, remember? My mom really is here to break the curse, you can just ask her if you don’t believe me. I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to double check. Oh, and Graham knows about the curse too. The evil queen stole his heart back in the Enchanted Forest, but now my dad found Graham’s heart and returned it to him, which is why he’s a hero!”

She waited patiently for the questions that she was sure to follow such a grand tale. “So you’re really trying to claim that everyone in this town are actually fairy-tale characters?” She tilted her head, clearly trying to process that without immediately rejecting it as too fantastic to be true. “So who am I, then?”

“I’m not really sure,” she started with just a shrug, but then Faith frowned as she thought of an important piece of information that Cora had the right to know. “But there is something… your mom, Regina, she’s- well, she’s the evil queen.” Then she braced herself for Cora’s inevitable reaction.

Just like she should have expected, Cora hopped down off the wooden platform, and glared up at Faith. “What are you talking about? Why are you saying that? Maybe she’s a little more strict than your mom, but that doesn’t mean that she’s evil!”

Faith hopped down as well, but didn’t try to move closer to Cora, not wanting to scare her off. “Look, I know that it’s a difficult thing to hear, and it probably just makes it even more difficult to believe the stuff I’m saying. Even I only have my Gramps’ word to go off of, since my mom and I never actually lived in the Enchanted Forest or met Regina before moving here. I just don’t want you to get hurt once the curse breaks and your mom remembers who she is. I don’t know how or when exactly, but I know that it’s going to happen soon, because it’s my mom’s destiny to do this.”

Cora stubbornly shook her head. “Screw your destiny, and your stupid story. You have no right to say any of that stuff to me!” Then she turned and stormed off. Faith bit her lip indecisively, but ended up letting Cora go. She didn’t think that chasing after her friend would accomplish much right now. It was probably better to give Cora some time to cool down.

With nothing else that she could do for now, Faith headed home, feeling dejected. She tried to make herself look more cheerful by the time she reached the loft, not wanting to worry her mother, but then gave up. It’s not like Emma wouldn’t see right through a fake face anyways, and besides, Faith deserved whatever punishment she’d get for sharing all the secrets that she’d always been raised to never tell to anyone.

When Faith got home, she saw that Emma and Mary Margaret were both still out, but there was someone else already in the loft. Normally she’d be quite pleased to see that he’d taken the time to seek her out, but right now, she was still feeling a bit bitter about how things had gone with Cora. She narrowed her eyes and did her best to imitate her mom’s intimidating voice. “Breaking and entering is a crime.”

Killian rolled his eyes as he stood up, apparently unconcerned with the dirt he’d left on the coffee table where he’d propped his feet up. “What, all out of kind greetings now that I’ve done what Emma wanted?”

Faith sighed, and trudged over to the couch, flopping down onto the cushion that Killian had just been sitting on. “I’ve had a rough day.” Then she looked up at him, putting on her best pleading eyes. “I could really use some ice cream.”   


“Wow, it must have been a rough day for you to be going straight to the hard stuff.” When Faith continued to look up at him, he let out a long sigh. “Alright, alright, where does one go to get ice cream around here?”

Faith grinned and clapped her hands together as she promptly got back to her feet. “There’s a great place not too far from here!”

Killian gave her a long look. “Why do I feel like I just got played?” he asked under his breath, just loudly enough for Faith to hear it. He also didn’t pull his hand away when Faith insisted on holding it the entire walk to the ice cream shop, and that’s how she knew that Killian didn’t hate her. She wasn’t sure that he was ready to handle the details of her friendship drama yet, though, so she politely kept that to herself for now. It was alright, because she was sure that it wouldn’t be very long at all until Killian did reach that level. For now, she was perfectly content with being treated to ice cream.

,,,

Emma was just filling out some paperwork at her desk when her phone rang. When she saw that it was David, she quickly straightened up in her seat and answered the call. “Dad? Is everything alright?” 

_ “There’s no emergency, if that’s what you’re worried about. It’s just… I’ve been trying to go over everything I can remember that could be even the littlest bit of help in breaking this curse, and I think I might have a few ideas. Maybe you could take a short vacation and come hear me out? I’d suggest you bring Faith too, but I don’t think you’d want to make her miss any school.” _

Emma frowned to herself. “We could always wait until the weekend?”   


There was a brief pause, and then David agreed.  _ “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. So I’ll see you both on Friday?” _

She wasn’t sure why David was so eager to see them, but she believed him when he said that it wasn’t an emergency. She wouldn’t be surprised if it was just a case of him missing his family, even if he’d been in town to see them so recently. It had to be tough to wait on the outskirts all alone for everything to happen at someone else’s hands. “Yeah, we’ll see you then.” 

Even though she was sure that David would have let her know if there was anything bad going on (other than the whole curse thing, obviously), Emma still found it difficult to focus on her work for the rest of the day. It was only Tuesday today, which meant that it would be a few days before she could figure out this mystery, and she just knew that it was going to bother her until she knew exactly what was going on.

When it was finally late enough that she could justify taking off for the night, Emma headed out. She went to Granny’s first, and up to the room that Graham was currently in. She knocked and waited for him to give her permission before she opened the door and stepped inside. “Hey, how’re you doing?”

Graham was sitting on a chair next to the window, staring blankly out at the town. He shrugged one shoulder in response to the question. “I’m alright, I think. I just have a lot- a lot to think about.”

“Me and Faith are going to head out of town this weekend, to visit with my father. I trust that the other officers can hold down the fort for a couple of days, but if there’s anything you need, I can just-”

Graham finally turned to look at her, and he shook his head lightly. “You should go. You guys deserve a little break. I’ll be fine. I’ve had a surprisingly large number of people coming to visit me since I checked in here. Just be careful, alright? I haven’t heard from Regina in a few days, which doesn’t necessarily mean anything bad, but it does mean that you should keep your eyes open.”

Emma nodded, then stayed to make small talk for just a few minutes before leaving, because she could tell that Graham wanted some time to himself. From what he said, it sounded like Ruby was definitely taking the job of looking after him quite seriously, and so was Cora Mills, which probably shouldn’t have been as surprising to learn as it was. 

When she got home, Emma didn’t even bother to feel annoyed by the fact that Killian was lounging on the couch, eating ice cream with Faith. “Should I even ask?”

Faith laughed. “We’re just hanging out.” 

Not in the mood to get into any argument, Emma just let out a tired sigh, then grabbed a spoon and sank down onto the couch next to Faith so that she could lean over and steal some ice cream. “So what are we watching?” It was surprisingly nice to sit there together, even if Emma would never admit to such a thing out loud. 


	16. Chapter 16

Emma looked at her phone in worry as she saw the name that flashed up on the screen. She was quick to answer the call and hold the phone up to her ear. “Dad? Is everything okay?”

He let out a long sigh.  _ “I know I said that it could wait until I see you both Friday afternoon, but would it be possible for you to actually come by now?” _

Emma furrowed her eyebrows, and felt her stomach start to twist up in concern. “Dad, seriously, what’s going on?”

There was a short pause before he answered with an unhelpful,  _ “I’ll tell you when I see you. I promise that it’s not an emergency and no one is hurt or directly in danger at the moment.” _

That didn’t really make her feel better, though, considering how insistent he was being about seeing her. But of course she wasn’t going to say no. “Yeah, I’ll head out as soon as I can. I’ll just stop by Granny’s to let Graham know I’ll be out of town. He’s not in the best place right now, but if Killian tries to make a move on Gold, Graham’s the only one here who could reasonably stop him. I’ll let you know when I’m at the edge of town, okay?”

She had never been so glad that Storybrooke had an unrealistically low crime rate, because otherwise she wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving the town without her or Graham at the station. As it was, though, she trusted the other officers to be able to take care of things for a day. 

Emma was going to send a quick text to Faith, but she knew that her daughter barely ever used the phone she’d been given for emergencies, so she texted Mary Margaret instead. Emma didn’t plan on being gone for too long, anyways. She knew how much Faith would want to visit her grandfather, so Emma decided that she’d head out to meet up with David now to help him with whatever it was that he needed, and then she’d come back, and then her and Faith could leave together on the weekend.

It didn’t take long to get to Granny’s, and Emma went up to Graham’s room, only going in after he called out his permission to her. She gave him a fond smile from where she stood in the doorway. “Hey, you’re looking good today.”

Graham got up from where he’d been doing pushups on the floor, and grabbed a nearby towel to wipe at his neck and face. “Shouldn’t you be at work right now?”

Emma sighed. “I’m actually heading out for a bit. My dad needs something but he won’t tell me what. He claims that it’s not an emergency, but he is acting pretty weird about it, so I’d feel a lot better being able to see him and help him now. I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be out of town, because I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Killian takes it as an opportunity to go after Gold. I know he’s not a great person, but we can’t just let him get murdered when he doesn’t even remember what he did to deserve it.”

Graham gave her a tired, but genuine, smile. “You’re right. I’ll get my best people on it.”

“Oh?” Emma raised one eyebrow curiously.

The little laugh that Graham let out was such a beautiful noise to hear. It meant that even though he’d been badly hurt by the return of his heart, he hadn’t been ruined by it. “Yeah, Faith. Obviously. She’s an expert at holding her father hostage. Whether it’s because she has the strongest grip ever seen in a ten-year-old, or because he actually wants to spend time with her without admitting it, he never pushes her away when she’s actively, physically holding onto him. At least not that I’ve seen.”

Of course Graham hadn’t seen much of the interactions between those two, at least not that Emma knew of, but as she thought about it, she realized that she was right. “And I’m sure she won’t see it as much of a chore to spend more time with him. You, Graham Humbert, are a genius.” She gave him a quick hug, then left after promising to bring him a treat the next time she visited.

With everything all set, or at least as all set as Emma thought it could be given the circumstances, she got back into her car, and drove to the edge of town, letting David know once she drove past the exit sign. She couldn’t deny that she was equal parts worried and curious to know what was going on with him.

,,,

Faith hurried home after school, but wasn’t too surprised when she didn’t see her dad waiting for her in the loft this time. With Emma out of town, he probably felt too sad to be in the place that she lived. 

She emptied her backpack of all the school supplies that was in it, then filled it with the gear that she might need. Mary Margaret hadn’t known much, but had pulled her aside during lunch to tell her that Emma was taking a quick trip to visit Gramps- though she’d assured Faith that neither of them were hurt- and that Graham wanted her to visit after school. 

From the sound of it, Faith was pretty sure that she was going to be given a very important mission, and she didn’t want to mess it up. So she shoved the appropriate items into her backpack: a flashlight, a handful of granola bars, a sturdy rope, a mini first aid kid, a space blanket, and a long book. Then she headed off to Granny’s, enjoying the warmer weather along the walk. 

When she got there, Graham gave her a warm smile. “I have a very important task for you.”

“Whatever it is, I can handle it!” Faith swore earnestly.

That made Graham’s smile grow a bit, and Faith felt it was a victory. And it definitely made him look even more attractive, which only solidified why he was on the list of Emma’s potential husbands. “There’s a building across the street that has roof access. Your dad might be up there. If he is, then it’s your job to bring him somewhere else. Take him to do something fun and time consuming.”

Faith put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Are you trying to distract me from something?”

Graham couldn’t hide a soft laugh as he shook his head. “No, it’s not you. It’s Killian that we’re trying to distract. But of course, if you don’t want to, then you don’t have to.”

“I want to,” Faith assured him. “Alright, I’ll accept this mission.” She gave him a quick hug, then headed to the door, though she paused, and spoke without turning back to look at him again. “Has… has Cora been by recently?”

Graham sighed. “Yes. But whatever’s going on with you two, I’m not getting involved. You’ll have to work it out between yourselves. I’m sure that whatever it is that happened, you two will figure out how to move past it.”

Faith sighed too. “Yeah, probably.” Then she headed out, though she didn’t feel quite as chipper as she had a few moments ago.

,,,

By the time Mary Margaret got home, she wasn’t at all surprised to see Faith and Killian running around the flat. Faith was wearing a paper eyepatch over one eye, and both of them were swinging around cardboard that was probably supposed to be in the shape of swords, but had been cut just a bit too messily to make that clear. As soon as she saw what was happening, Mary Margaret held up her phone to record the whole thing. 

Faith leapt down off the stairs, and swiped at the back of Killian’s leg, but he quickly turned around and grabbed her by the waist, swinging her up into the air. She lost grip on her sword as she let out a startled laugh, but as soon as she was set down again, she darted forward and snatched the sword out of Killian’s hand. He let out an over-exaggerated surprised gasp as she japped the blunt point of the sword into his stomach. “Aha, I got you! Now all your treasure will be mine!” 

Killian let out a loud groan, then collapsed to the ground, throwing one arm up over his eyes. “Alas, ye got me, ye fair pirate-”

“Princess pirate,” Faith interrupted him in a stage whisper.

Killian looked like he was just barely refraining from rolling his eyes. “Princess pirate. What treasure will you take from this feeble old man?”

Faith pretended to think about it for a moment before grinning mischievously. “I want… your pirate ship!”

At that, Mary Margaret couldn’t contain a small burst of laughter, and she quickly turned her phone off and shoved it into her pocket as Killian and Faith turned to look at her at the same time. When they were both looking at her like that, it was very easy to see the resemblance between them. The only real difference was Faith’s excited joy versus Killian’s embarrassed annoyance. “Looks like you two are having fun.”

Killian got to his feet and brushed some imaginary dust off his pants (Mary Margaret knew it was imaginary both because she made it a point of pride to keep this place clean, and because those black pants would definitely show even the slightest smudge of dirt if there was any on them). “I was forced into it,” he muttered. 

Before Mary Margaret could gently tease him, there was a polite knock at the door. Mary Margaret looked at Faith, who just shrugged. She went to answer the door, and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “Regina?”

The mayor cleared her throat, and gave Mary Margaret a long look before answering. “Miss Blanchard. Is Emma here?” She held up a tupperware container. “I know that she has done an admirable job as acting sheriff while Graham is on sick leave, and I thought that it would be fair to reward her for her efforts. This is one of my famous turnovers. Old recipe, but delicious.”

Mary Margaret wasn’t sure why, but the look in Regina’s eyes sent shivers down her spine. She had to put more effort then usual into making herself sound cordial. “She’s actually not in at the moment. But I’d be happy to tell her that you brought it over.”

Regina narrowed her eyes in dissatisfaction, but the look only lasted for a moment before returning to a polite smile. “Thank you, dear. Just be sure that Emma gets a bite before anyone else descends onto it. I did make it specially for her, afterall.”

“Right, I’ll be sure to do that.” She took the tupperware container, then watched as Regina turned and walked down the hallway. Only after Regina was out of sight did Mary Margaret close the door, and make her way over to the kitchen. She noticed the curious looks being sent her way. “Oh- this is for later. If you guys are hungry now, though, I can make some snacks.”

Faith started jumping up and down and chanting, “Snacks! Snacks! Snacks!”  
Killian shifted awkwardly on his feet. “I should really be heading out…”

Faith shook her head and reached out to grab his sleeve. “Nooo! You have to stay and have snacks!” She refused to let go, and Mary Margaret could see the exact second that Killian’s shoulders slumped down in a resigned acceptance of the situation. She did her best not to smirk at the sight. 

,,,

Later, after Mary Margaret had headed out to go grocery shopping (she’d offered to bring Faith with her, since usually they went together, but Faith had declined, citing her desire to keep hanging out with Killian), Faith went over to the counter to look at the suspicious dessert. 

She’d clearly seen Regina standing at the door, and though Killian had either not noticed her or not recognized her, Faith had. So she pried off the lid and took a cautious sniff of the pastry inside. As soon as the smell of apples hit her nose, she slammed the lid back on. There was no way to know for sure whether Regina remembered being the evil queen or not, but Faith was pretty certain that there could be no innocent motive for handing over a treat to Emma.

For the sake of everyone involved, Faith made the executive decision to drop the container into the trash can. If anyone asked later, she could claim it was an accident, and she was sure that her mother would understand once Faith explained it to her in private. Satisfied that the dangerous situation had been resolved, Faith walked over to the couch, feeling a bit smug. Pssh, the evil queen had really thought that she could outsmart Faith White? As if.

While she was sitting there, she didn’t expect to hear the sound of a lid popping off, and Killian asking out loud, “Who’d throw away this perfectly good looking thing?”

Faith turned around in horror, and tried to rush over, but it felt like everything was moving in slow motion as Killian lifted the turnover to his mouth and took a big bite. He wrinkled his nose after swallowing it. “It’s a bit dry-” then he collapsed to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

Faith rushed over, calling out for him as she slid to the ground and cradled his head on her lap. “Dad? Dad? Dad!” 


	17. Chapter 17

Emma raised one eyebrow in disbelief. “Really? This is why you called me out so urgently and nearly gave me a heart attack thinking that there might be something seriously wrong? Really?”

There was a sheepish look on David’s face, but he didn’t duck his head to avoid eye contact with her, so at least that was a point in his favor. “What can I say? As you get closer to breaking the curse, this is a genuine concern.”

She let out a soft sigh, then leaned over to gently rest her hand on David’s arm. “I know,” she said gently. “Look, I’ve never actually seen you and Mom together, and I know that there’s obviously going to be some perspective bias in your stories, but even still, from everything you’ve told me it sounds like the two of you were madly in love. You guys were the real deal. I’m not saying that it won’t be a bit weird at first, but there’s no reason that she won’t still love you exactly how you are.”

David frowned, and leaned back slightly. “Everyone in Storybrooke looks exactly the same as they did back in the Enchanted Forest, which means that even if they were living day to day lives, they didn’t actually get older. That means I’m thirty years older than Mary Margaret now. Thirty years of life and experience and raising children and… and getting old.”

Emma reached over to give her dad a comforting pat on the arm. “For a guy your age, you’re still in great shape. Maybe things won’t be exactly the same as where you left off back then, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Change is important. And besides, you and her and basically soulmates, so of course she’ll love you even though you have gray in your hair and a few wrinkles. You can still pick up a ten year old like she weighs nothing, and you can still hold your own in a sword fight.”

“Assuming you haven’t been going easy on me when we spar,” he pointed out.

Emma rolled her eyes. “I spent way too many years working my ass off just to beat you for the first time. There’s no way I’d taint that by daring to go easy on you now.” Then the teasing tone went away and she spoke more seriously. “Everything’s going to be alright, Dad. I’m sure that once you two are reunited, you’re going to be acting so sickeningly in love that everyone’s going to have had quite enough of you two, and what you look like won’t even matter at all.” 

Before she could listen to a response to that from David, she felt the vibrations of her phone ringing in her pocket, and pulled it out. When she saw Mary Margaret’s name, she excused herself and moved a few steps away to answer the call. She didn’t get out a single word before her roommate started talking. “Emma, you need to get back here as soon as possible. I don’t know what happened, exactly, but it’s Killian, he’s in the hospital in some kind of coma, and Faith refuses to leave him here for even a few minutes, and I know you say you don’t care about him, but we both know how important he is to Faith and-”

Emma cut off the rambling before it could go on. “Tell Faith that I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She hung up and then turned to look at David. “I have to go. Something’s wrong with Killian.”

David frowned, and followed her over to her car, getting into the passenger seat in a wordless show of declaring his intent to accompany her. There was too much on Emma’s mind for her to bother arguing, so she just got into the driver’s seat and started the engine. She needed to get back fast, to be there for her daughter. “What are the odds that something would happen to him just when you’re out of town?” David asked after a couple of minutes of silence.

Emma gave him a brief searching look before returning her attention to the road. “What are you saying?”

He shrugged. “We both know that Faith’s father is prone to getting himself into trouble, but he’s never been the type to recklessly risk his own life. But if he let his guard down and someone made a move…”

“Oh, don’t bother saying ‘someone’. There’s nobody in Storybrooke right now who’d have any reason to hurt Killian, not right now anyways. Although I suppose it is possible that he took advantage of this opportunity to go after Gold. Even without knowing who he is, that man is frightening in his vengeance.”

David made a thoughtful little noise. “Well, no matter what happened, we can figure it out once we get there. 

Emma nodded. It wasn’t until a few minutes later that she added in a soft voice, “Thanks, Dad.”

He smiled gently at her, and she knew even without him saying the words that he was thinking something along the lines of ‘There’s no need for you to thank me; I’m your father, of course I’m here for you’. Emma knew that she truly was so lucky to have a father like David. She couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to grow up in a world where she wasn’t raised by him.

,,,

Faith jerked up, startled, when she heard the sound of the door to the little hospital room open, but let out a big sigh of relief when she saw Emma and David step in. She jumped up and ran over, easily leaping into her mother’s waiting arms. Faith held on tightly, and took comfort in the way that Emma did the same. “Mom, I’m so scared right now. What if he…?”

Emma gently ran her hand through Faith’s hair, then leaned back enough to get a better look at her. “What happened?” she asked in a soft voice.

Trusting that her mom would be the one to figure out how to fix this, Faith reached into her pocket and pulled out a plastic bag that held the remains of the poisonous turnover. “Regina brought this, and my dad took a bite before collapsing. I know that Dr. Whale wouldn’t believe me if I told him about it, but you… You know a cure for poison apples, right?”

She shoved the bag into her mom’s hand, and waited impatiently for Emma to proudly proclaim that of course she’d figured out the answer, and that there was nothing to worry about because the problem would be solved right away. Emma lifted the bag to look closely at the pastry inside, then gave Faith a helpless look. “I don’t-”

David reached out and plucked the bag out of Emma’s loose grip. “Apple? If this is anything like the apple she gave to Snow, then there is a cure. It’s…” he trailed off, and suddenly looked a bit awkward.

Faith looked at him eagerly. “What is it? Gramps, if there’s a way to help him, then you have to tell us! Please!”

He sighed, then nodded once. When he answered, he avoided looking at Emma. “True love’s kiss,” he said quietly. 

“Then he’s screwed,” Emma responded almost immediately. Faith frowned up at her mom, who let out a heavy sigh. “Her name was Milah, and she died a long time ago. He never really talked much about her, but it was pretty obvious that they…” She walked over to the bed where Killian was lying motionless, and gently pulled aside a section of the blanket to reveal one of his arms, which had a pretty large tattoo of a heart with a dagger going through it, and the name Milah across the heart. “If true love’s kiss is the only cure, then…”

She thought about it for a moment, but then shook her head. There’s no way that her dad could have been brought back into her life just for him to die or to stay trapped asleep like this forever. It just didn’t make any sense. That’s not how the stories worked. 

Then a brilliant idea struck her, and she blurted it out right away. “Maybe he can have more than one if one of them is his kid!” She rushed over, then leaned over and very gently kissed his forehead. She held her breath, but nothing happened after a few seconds, so she tried again. Still nothing happened, so she tried a third time, as tears started to build up in her eyes.

Faith couldn’t try a fourth time, because Emma tugged her away from the bed and into a hug. “It’s okay, it’s going to be okay,” she whispered. After a few minutes, she carefully passed Faith over to David, who immediately hugged her close. Emma sniffed once, then reached up to rub at her eyes. “There might still be a solution. I’m going to find Gold.”

David gave her a worried look. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? You already owe him one favor.”

Emma’s eyes flicked down to Faith for a moment before going back to David. “If he knows of a way to fix this, then whatever he asks for will be worth it. You two stay here and watch over Killian, okay?” She leaned over to kiss Faith on the forehead, then hurried off. Faith and David settled down into the chairs next to the bed. Faith wished that she could go with her mom to find the cure, but she knew that Emma would probably have better luck handling the fickle Mr. Gold. And besides that, Faith did want to watch over Killian. She couldn’t fight the awful feeling in her gut that told her he would disappear the moment she looked away for too long.

,,,

Mr. Gold looked up as Emma stepped through the front door of his shop, and he raised one eyebrow. “You look to be a woman on a mission.”

Emma clenched her jaw and took in a deep breath, reminding herself that she had to do this, for Faith. “I need your help.” 

They both looked at each other for a very long moment, and just when Emma thought Mr. Gold was about to claim that he had no idea what she was talking about, he smiled. “Indeed you do. It seems quite the tragic ailment has befallen your… friend. Magic always comes with a price.”

Emma clenched her hands into fists. “I know that you hate him, and that he hates you, but this was Regina’s doing. He wasn’t the one who’s supposed to pay this price.”

“That man is quite desperate to kill me. What reason could I possibly have to help bring him back?”

Emma took a few steps closer to the desk, but Mr. Gold solidly held his ground, and she paused. “So you’re scared? That’s it, huh? You’re afraid that he’s actually capable of bringing you down, so you’d rather let him die, like a- like a coward.”

The look on Mr. Gold’s face came so swiftly and made shivers travel down Emma’s spine. She had to force herself not to reach for her gun. “You’d best be careful of your words, Miss White.”

“Please, can you help or not?”

Several seconds passed, and Emma felt herself start to sweat. For some reason, even after hearing all the stories growing up, she’d let herself believe that the evil queen was the scariest threat there was. She knew now just how wrong she’d been to believe that, though.

Finally, Gold nodded once. “True love, Miss White. The only magic powerful enough to transcend realms and break any curse. Luckily for you, I happened to have bottled some. From strands of your parents’ hair, I made the most powerful potion in all the realm. So powerful, that when I created the dark curse, I placed a single drop on the parchment. Just a little safety valve.”

Emma’s eyes widened slightly in realization. “That’s why I’m the savior. That’s why I can break the curse.” There had never been a reason to question why she had the role in the story that she did, but now she knew. 

“Now you’re getting it.”

Emma took a deep breath in, then slowly let it out. “I will break the curse, I swear it, but today, I just need to save Killian.”

“Which is why it’s your lucky day. I didn’t use all the potion. I saved some… for a rainy day.”

She didn’t like the smug look on her face, but she’d deal with it if it meant making Faith happy. And… and if it meant saving Killian’s life. As much as she hated him for abandoning her, she’d always found herself having trouble hating him entirely. “Well it’s storming like a bitch. Where is it?”

,,,

Graham looked around the library, then back at Emma. “Are you sure that this is a good idea? Trusting his word?”

Emma shrugged, clutching her sword tightly in one hand. “What other choice do I have? If Killian dies, it will break Faith’s heart. And I’ll… I’d miss him too. He doesn’t deserve to go down at the hands of Regina. Unlike many of the other people in this town, he never even knew her, from what I understand. So you operate the elevator, and I’ll go down to fight whoever this ‘old friend’ is. I do wish Gold would be less vague and suspicious, but at least he’s helping.”

“Is he, though? I mean, you know that Killian wants him dead, so wouldn’t the smart thing to do be for him to let Killian stay exactly how he is?”

“Look, I can’t claim to understand his motives, I don’t think anybody could. But if there’s even the slightest chance that the answer is down there, then I’ve got to at least try. And I trust you.” She reached over to briefly touch Graham’s arm, then got into the elevator. “Alright, I’m ready.” Graham nodded once, then began turning the crank to lower Emma down.

,,,

So it was a dragon. And Emma was pretty sure she knew which one it was, too. In fact, she got the feeling that what she was sent here to retrieve was something that her dad had put into place. He’d told Emma the story before, of meeting Maleficent and having to get an egg into her dragon body. 

Emma dodged aside some random debris that was flung her way. She positioned herself the way she’d always been taught, but still found herself feeling slightly nervous. Even having grown up using a sword and being trained by an expert, she’d never actually fought any living thing outside of her spars with her father. It was nice to know that even at her age there were things in life that were new and unknown. 

She hesitated for a moment, though, as the dragon swooped around the room. Because of David’s story, Emma already knew that this wasn’t just a dragon, but also a person. She’d kill Maleficent if she had to, but maybe she didn’t have to. “Hey, Maleficent!” Her shout echoed around the cavernous room, and the dragon actually paused mid flight to stare at her in surprise. Emma scrambled to think of what to say. “I just want the egg you’ve got. If there’s any peaceful way to retrieve it, then I’d much prefer that. Then when the curse is broken, you can just walk out of here. Why fight if we don’t have to?”

But her words seemed to already lose the interest of the dragon, who swooped down at Emma. Emma sighed, and then lunged forward, stabbing the sword deeply into the dragon’s neck. Instead of leaving behind a bloody corpse to search, the dragon’s body seemed to disintegrate entirely, leaving behind only the egg. Emma scooped it up, and hurried back to the elevator. 

Halfway up, the elevator jerked to a halt, and Emma looked up in worry. “Graham? Graham, what’s going on? Graham!”

It was Gold who leaned over to peer down at her, though, not Graham. “Miss White? You got it?”   


“What are you doing here?”   


Gold looked at her with an almost genuine concern. If she didn’t know all the stories about him as well as she did, she might even believe it. “I’ve come to check up on you. I’m glad I did. Your poor sheriff is passed out cold. I believe the exertion was too much for him, and when he fell, something in the elevator broke.”

Now Emma was the one filled with concern. She was the one who’d asked Graham to come out here with her. She should have asked David, and sent Graham to the hospital to accompany Faith. Or maybe she could have brought Mary Margaret, even if the woman didn’t understand what was going on, or maybe- well. There was no point in thinking about what she should have done. “Did you call for an ambulance? I’m coming up.”

Gold shook his head. “Now there’s… There’s no time for this. You can’t possibly scale the wall and carry that.”

“Yeah? Well, I can try.”

She climbed up on top of the elevator, but Gold wasn’t done talking yet. “No, you can’t. Just toss it up. Your pirate’s going to be fine, I promise. We’re running out of time. Toss it up.” 

Emma narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Why are you in such a hurry? You don’t even like him.” She glanced down at the egg, then back up at Gold. “Is this even a cure for the poison, or is it just something you wanted for yourself?” Of course it was possible that this was both, if it really was a true love potion, and it really was as powerful as Gold had made it out to be. “Maybe there’s enough in here for the both of us?”

Gold looked down at her with an icy cold amusement that made it clear he wasn’t actually amused. “Miss White, ask yourself why you’re so desperate to save this man, who left you behind for his revenge while you were pregnant. Ask yourself if you really need the contents of that potion at all. You can be an intelligent woman when you put your mind to it. So ask yourself what need there would be for a savior at all if the curse could be broken with a potion?”

,,,

Emma left Graham with a doctor to get the wound on his head treated, then rushed to Killian’s room. She could hear Faith’s loud sobbing from halfway down the hallway, and she burst into the room just as Dr. Whale and Mother Superior were leaving. 

She was barely aware of their words as she brushed past them into the room. David was struggling to pull Faith away as a nurse started to unhook the machines that had been attached to Killian’s too-still body.

Emma thought of Gold’s words, and she took a deep breath before walking over to the bed. She crouched down next to the bed, and leaned in closely enough that the others gathered in the room wouldn’t be able to hear what she whispered softly to him. “I forgive you, Killian.” Maybe there were other words that should be said, but if there were, then those were meant for a private moment when Killian would actually be able to hear them. For now, what she said would be enough. Then she leaned forward, and pressed a very gentle kiss to his forehead. 

A pulse of magic burst out and rushed through the room and then spread further, rushing everywhere like a powerful gust of wind. Killian let out a soft gasp as he opened his eyes. “You really mean that?” he murmured.

“Well, I did save you, didn’t I?” she asked lightly as she held his hand. 

She wasn’t even aware of the chatter behind her until she heard Mother Superior say, “That was true love’s kiss.” And then she knew that she’d broken more than just the spell on Killian. She’d broken the curse. She’d finally succeeded at what she’d been born to do. 

Killian had heard the words too, and he carefully tugged his hand free of Emma’s, recoiling away from her in a way that would probably seem subtle if she didn’t know him so well. It hurt, but she understood. True love and such was too much for Killian. She wouldn’t force anything on him. Emma could only hope that even if he couldn’t stay for her, he would at least stick around for Faith, who loved him so much after such a short time.

,,,

She felt it the moment the weird wind passed over her, and suddenly, Mary Margaret was racing to the hospital. When she’d left earlier, she’d passed by Emma and her father coming in, and even though he was much older than she remembered, Mary Margaret suddenly remembered exactly who he was. 

She didn’t even have to enter the hospital, because David was already rushing out the doors. “Snow!”

“Charming!” They ran towards each other as if they couldn’t bear to be apart for even a single second more. “You found me,” she said softly.

David smiled at her. “Did you ever doubt I would?”

,,,

Emma watched from the window as purple smoke rolled through the town. She shivered slightly at the feeling of magic rushing over her. Then she glanced over at the bed, where Faith was still rambling on and on about something and Killian was nodding along even though he probably had no idea what she was talking about. 

The door to the room suddenly burst open, and David and Mary Margaret both rushed in. Mary Margaret’s eyes found Emma immediately, and she hurried over to hug Emma. “You found me.”

David was quick to join the hug, as was Faith. “You did it,” David said quietly, words slightly muffled by Emma’s hair. “You saved everyone.”

The four of them stood there in that hug, pressed closely to one another. They knew now that no matter what happened going forward, they would figure it out together, as a family. 


End file.
